Competency and educational needs in palliative care.
OBJECTIVE
To explore general practitioners' (GPs') and nurses' self assessment of professional education, competency and educational needs in palliative care.


METHODS
All 897 registered GPs and all 933 registered home care nurses in the Province of Styria/Austria were sent postal questionnaires to evaluate their professional training in (i) pain control and symptom management, (ii) handling psychosocial needs and (iii) ability to cope with work-related distress.


RESULTS
61.8% of 546 evaluable respondents felt not at all or not sufficiently prepared for palliative care by their professional education (GPs: 70%, nurses: 50.4%). GPs rated the competency of their professional guild significantly higher and their educational needs significantly lower than nurses (p<0.01). Both, GPs and nurses emphasised a great need for education in the area of neuropsychiatric symptom management.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results provide a detailed analysis of needs and may help to target goals for training seminars in palliative care.
Becker
Gerhild
G
Palliative Care Research Group, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg i. Br., Germany.
Momm
Felix
F
Gigl
Annemarie
A
Wagner
Brigitte
B
Baumgartner
Johann
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*