title: Hospice Attitudes of Physicians and Nurses: A Pilot Study.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to gauge the attitudes of internal medicine (IM) physicians and hospice nurses on the hospice programs in a Southeastern US county. A postal survey sought views on the following issues: (1) the level of control that hospice affords dying patients; (2) health care professionals' education and communication involving the dying process; (3) the hospice referral process; (4) characteristics of a "good death"; and (5) gender versus professional role regarding hospice attitudes. The data revealed that occupational role in hospice care has a more significant function in the development of cognitive attitudes than of gender regarding hospice programs and that professional education needs more emphasis on the study of end-of-life issues, as well as open communication between health care professionals and patients during the dying process. Physicians were less likely than nurses to agree that patient control was important. Additionally, what constitutes a good death was similar to previous studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Von
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bakanic
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singleton
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA dickinsong@cofc.edu.
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Dickinson
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002983:Clinical Competence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D015144:Southeastern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: a good death; control by hospice patients; education preparation; gender versus professional role; hospice; patient referrals; physicians’ and nurses’ attitudes