Challenges and Affecting Factors for Nurses in the Integration of Home Health Service and Palliative Care

Objective: This study aimed to determine the difficulties experienced by nurses working in the integration process of home health service and palliative care, and the affecting factors. Material and methods: This is a descriptive study, and data were collected using the “Palliative Care Difficulties Scale (PCDS),” and the “Palliative Care Self-Reported Practices Scale (PCPS).” The study was conducted using an online questionnaire through Google Survey. Results: While 91.8% (n=141) of the participants reported that the integration of home health service and palliative care was necessary, 42.6% of them reported that they had problems with decision-making during the practices in the unit where they worked. The participants’ mean PCDS score was 42.3±10.3, and the mean PCPS score was 73.8±10.2. A statistically significant relationship was found between the educational status of the nurses, receiving education about the unit they work in, having problems with making decisions during practice, experiencing conflicts about home health service/ palliative care areas, and receiving consultancy services related to ethical dilemmas experienced and palliative care difficulties (p<0.05). A weak and significant negative correlation was found between the sub-dimension of PCPS, “care provided at the time of death”, and “communication”, which is both PCDS total and PCDS sub-dimension. Conclusion: Although a weak but significant correlation was detected in some sub-dimensions, no significant correlation between the total PCDS score and the total PCPS score was found.