Self-assessed palliative care competence of healthcare professionals in a Finnish university hospital: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND

While the need for palliative care (PC) is growing, both national and international studies have shown insufficient PC competence among healthcare professionals. Good PC both reduces healthcare costs and promotes quality of life. It is therefore necessary to examine the current state of healthcare professionals' level of PC competence and identify the areas in particular need of improvement.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the self-assessed PC competence of healthcare professionals working in a university hospital, and to study which background factors are associated with it, in order to identify areas of PC requiring improvement and further education.

DESIGN AND

METHODS

This mixed methods study with a convergent design was conducted in one hospital in Finland in 2024. The participants (n=100) were asked to rate their self-assessed PC competence using a 30-item instrument developed for the study. The data were analysed using both quantitative (descriptive statistics, comparisons between groups) and qualitative (inductive content analysis) methods.

RESULTS

Healthcare professionals' self-assessed PC competence was "Good" or above in 18/30 items. Nurses and physicians generally rated their competence higher than did those representing other professions; competence was rated the highest in Oncology and in General Medicine and Geriatrics, respectively. Work experience in healthcare overall did not correlate with the level of competence, whereas experience in PC specifically did. In the open-ended responses, participants identified factors that promote, hinder, or otherwise impact self-assessed competence.

CONCLUSION

PC competence was considered important, and 18/30 items were rated "Good" or "Very good". However, the study revealed areas potentially in need of improvement and more education, both indirectly as lower scores for self-assessed competence and directly as comments provided by the participants. To provide high-quality PC, more education is required especially concerning advance care planning, guardianship, and multiprofessional cooperation. Further research is needed regarding competence among representatives of different professions.