Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T12:05:15.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perspectives on palliative care in Lebanon: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical and nursing specialties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2009

Huda Abu-Saad Huijer ,
Hani Dimassi  and
Sarah Abboud
Huda Abu-Saad Huijer*
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Hani Dimassi
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Sarah Abboud
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Huda Abu-Saad Huijer, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon. E-mail: huda.huijer@aub.edu.lb
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

Our objective was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians and nurses on Palliative Care (PC) in Lebanon, across specialties.

Method:

We performed a cross-sectional descriptive survey using a self-administered questionnaire; the total number of completed and returned questionnaires was 868, giving a 23% response rate, including 74.31% nurses (645) and 25.69% physicians (223).

Results:

Significant differences were found between medical and surgical nurses and physicians concerning their perceptions of patients' and families' outbursts, concerns, and questions. Knowledge scores were statistically associated with practice scores and degree. Practice scores were positively associated with continuing education in PC, exposure to terminally ill patients, and knowledge and attitude scores. Acute critical care and oncology were found to have lower practice scores than other specialties.

Significance of results:

Formal education in palliative care and development of palliative care services are very much needed in Lebanon to provide holistic care to terminally ill patients.

Keywords

Palliative carePhysiciansNursesKnowledgeattitudesPracticesLebanon
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 339 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abu-Saad, H. & Daher, M. (2005). The view from Lebanon. Palliative care is fairly a new development in Lebanon. European Journal of Palliative Care, 12, 257–260.Google Scholar
Abu-Saad Huijer, H. & Dimassi, H. (2007). Palliative care in Lebanon: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians and nurses. Lebanese Medical Journal, 55, 121–128.Google ScholarPubMed
Boyle, D.K., Miller, P.A. & Forbes-Thompson, S.A. (2005). Communication and end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: Patient, family, and clinician outcome. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 28, 302–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherny, N.I. & Catane, R. (2003). Attitudes of medical oncologists toward palliative care for patients with advanced and incurable cancer. Cancer, 98, 2502–2510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doumit, M.A.A., Abu-Saad Huijer, H. & Kelley, J.H. (2007). The lived experience of Lebanese oncology patients receiving palliative care. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 11, 309–319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farber, N.J., Urban, S.Y., Collier, V.U., et al. (2004). Frequency and perceived competence in providing palliative care to terminally ill patients: A survey of primary care physicians. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 28, 364–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferrand, E., Lemaire, F., Regnier, B., et al. (2003). Discrepancies between perceptions by physicians and nursing staff of intensive care unit end-of-life decisions. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 167, 1310–1315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feudtner, C., Santucci, G., Feinstein, J.A., et al. (2007). Hopeful thinking and level of comfort regarding providing pediatric palliative care: A survey of hospital nurses. Pediatrics, 119, 186–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanratty, B., Hibbert, D., Mair, F., et al. (2006). Doctors' understanding of palliative care. Palliative Medicine, 20, 493–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hilden, J.M., Emanuel, E.J., Fairclough, D.L., et al. (2001). Attitudes and practices among pediatric oncologists regarding end-of-life care: Results of the 1998 American Society of Clinical Oncology survey. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 19, 205–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolarik, R.C., Walker, G. & Arnold, R.M. (2006). Pediatric resident education in palliative care: A needs assessment. Pediatrics, 117, 1949–1954.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, M.M. & McBride, D.L. (2006). End-of-life care in the intensive care unit: State of the art in 2006. Critical Care Medicine, 34(Suppl), S306–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miccinesi, G., Fischer, S., Paci, E., et al. (2005). Physicians' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions: A comparison between seven countries. Social Science and Medicine, 60, 1961–1974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morita, T., Fujimoto, K., Imura, C., et al. (2006). Self-reported practice, confidence, and knowledge about palliative care of nurses in a Japanese regional cancer center: Longitudinal study of 1-year activity of palliative care team. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, 23, 385–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mosenthal, A.C., Lee, K.F. & Huffman, J. (2002). Palliative care in the surgical intensive care unit. Journal of American College of Surgeons, 194, 75–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mosenthal, A.C. & Murphy, P.A. (2006). Interdisciplinary model for palliative care in the trauma and surgical intensive care unit: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Demonstration Project for improving palliative care in the intensive care unit. Critical Care Medicine, 34(Suppl), S399–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, C.X., Carmody, S., Leipzig, R.M., et al. (2005). There is hope for the future: National survey results reveal that geriatric medicine fellows are well-educated in end-of-life care. Journal of American Geriatric Society, 53, 705–710.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Proot, I.M., Huijer Abu-Saad, H., ter Meulen, R., et al. (2004). The needs of terminally ill patients at home: Directing one's life, health, and things related to beloved others. Palliative Medicine, 18, 53–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raudonis, B.M., Kyba, F.C.N. & Kinsey, T.A. (2002). Long-term care nurses' knowledge of end-of-life care. Geriatric Nursing, 23, 296–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steginga, S.K., Dunn, J., Dewar, A.M., et al. (2005). Impact of an intensive nursing education course on nurses' knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and perceived skills in the care of patients with cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 32, 375–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thibault-Prevost, J., Jensen, L.A. & Hodgins, M. (2000). Critical care nurses' perceptions of DNR status. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 32, 259–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, X.S., Di, L., Reyes-Gibby, C.C., et al. (2004). End-of-life care in urban areas of China: A survey of 60 oncology clinicians. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 27, 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, K.R., Coyne, P.J. & Patel, U.B. (2001). Are nurses adequately prepared for end-of-life care? Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33, 147–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (WHO). (2006). WHO definition of palliative care. Available from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/Google Scholar
Wotton, K., Borbasi, S. & Redden, M. (2005). When all else has failed: Nurses' perceptions of factors influencing palliative care for patients with end-stage heart failure. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 20, 18–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yazigi, A., Riachi, M. & Dabbar, G. (2005). Withholding and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in a Lebanese intensive care unit: A prospective study. Intensive Care Medicine, 31, 562–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar