title: Competency and educational needs in palliative care.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Research Group, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg i. Br., Germany.
authors.forename: Gerhild
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Momm
authors.forename: Annemarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gigl
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
mesh_terms: 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*