Healthcare workers' skills: perceived competence and experiences of end-of-life care in community hospitals

Objectives: To understand the knowledge, skills and confidence of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in delivering end-of-life care in community hospitals. Research design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out to evaluate doctors', nurses' and other staff's self-reported knowledge and confidence in delivering general aspects of end-of-life care in six community hospitals in the South West and South East of England. Approximately 900 hours of non-participant observation was conducted. Participants: Staff associated with community hospitals were invited to complete a questionnaire and 346 questionnaires were distributed, with 125 returned (response rate 36%). The sample consisted of: medical staff (n = 31), nursing staff (n = 44), health care assistants (n = 22) and other professional workers (n = 28). Results: Staff reported having knowledge, skills and confidence in symptom control but had less expertise in psychological, spiritual and bereavement care. End-of-life care needs to be delivered by a multidisciplinary team. Our findings indicate that further education is required in psychosocial care.