Effect of palliative care program on nurses’ performance regarding prostate cancer and patients’ outcomes

Background Patients with chronic illnesses may experience extreme symptoms, including physical, spiritual, and psychosocial effects. Preventing and managing these symptoms while optimizing the quality of life throughout the dying process is the goal of palliative care. Aim To evaluate the effect of palliative care program on nurses’ performance regarding prostate cancer and patient’s outcomes. Sample and methods: research design A pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design was used to achieve the aim of the study. Setting The study was conducted in the Oncology and Urology Departments at Zagazig University Hospital, Sharkia, Egypt. Patients A purposive sample of 30 nurses and 30 patients had been selected. Tools of data collection Four tools were used: a structured interviewing questionnaire for nurses, observational checklists for palliative care, a structured interview questionnaire for patients, and symptom index. Results The results of the present study showed that 83% of studied nurses had satisfactory level of knowledge in the postprogram phase. Moreover, 83.3% of studied nurses had satisfactory level of practice after the program implementation. There was improvement in patients’ compliance regarding nutrition, medication, and lifestyle after applying the palliative care program, with mean±SD of 9.1±1.71, 12.1±2.5, and 10.3±3.4, respectively. Moreover, 80% of the studied patients had decreased symptoms after the program, though the decrement was not significant. Conclusion In light of the current study results, it can be concluded that the palliative care program had a positive effect on improving nurses’ knowledge and practice, which reflected then on improving patients’ outcomes. Recommendation In-service training for newly recruited nurses will help to update their knowledge and improve their practice.