Comfort-Supporting Nursing Activities for End-of-Life Patients in an Institutionalized Environment.

PURPOSE

Comfort promotion plays a significant role in end-of-life patient care. The objective of this study was to determine the utilization rate of comfort supporting nursing activities in end-of-life patients in an institutionalized environment in the Czech Republic in relation to the age of the registered nurses (RNs), length of work experience, education level, and type of workplace.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was designed. A questionnaire with Likert scales included 31 activities of dying care and spiritual support interventions. The sample comprised 907 RNs working in 49 institutions in nine regions of the Czech Republic. The Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction of significance, Spearman's correlation analysis, and logical regression model were used for statistical evaluation.

FINDINGS

The least frequently implemented activity by RNs was "Show the patient's willingness to discuss death" and the most frequent activity was "Threat to the patient's dignity and respect." The highest utilization rate of nursing activities was reported in the physical dimension, while the lowest utilization rate of nursing activities was in the social dimension set. Significant predictors for the high utilization rate of physical dimension set activities were hospice care departments, long-term care facilities (LTCFs), and the age of RNs. Hospice departments were also a predictor of high utilization rate of activities in the psychological, spiritual, and social dimension set activities.

CONCLUSIONS

With the exception of hospice departments, RNs used activities encouraging psychological, spiritual, and social comfort for end-of-life patients less frequently than the physical dimension.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

RNs in hospitals and LTCFs focus insufficiently on the spiritual and psychosocial comfort of end-of-life patients. This study is of particular significance to educators who prepare the next generation of nurses.