Pediatric Palliative Care: Competency and Educational Needs Assessment in Pediatricians of a Developing Country
competency; educational need; end-of-life care; pediatric palliative care
Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC) is a nascent subspecialty that aims on achieving the best possible quality of life for children with life-threatening illnesses. To attain this goal in a developing country, Pediatricians require adequate knowledge and skill in this subject. Assessment of competency and educational needs in Pediatricians is the first step towards this aim. A multi-center, self-reported, cross-sectional, online survey was conducted among Pediatric residents and junior staff pediatricians from various teaching hospitals in Pakistan. Data were analyzed in terms of descriptive statistics using SPSS 16. Total 284 Pediatric residents and junior staff pediatricians from 4 different training programs and 13 different teaching hospitals of Punjab, Pakistan recorded their responses. The mean age of respondents was 30.19 years (+2.67 SD) with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.2. Regarding self-assessment of competency in end-of-life clinical skills, low or below average competence (Mean < 2.55) was reported in assessment and management of terminal delirium, agitation, and anxiety; use of adjuvant analgesics, discussing treatment withdrawal, use of parenteral opioid analgesics, and developing family-centered goals of care. Improved competence was observed with the increasing years of training/experience. Regarding interest(s) in learning about end-of-life clinical topics, all of the 10 topics included in the survey reached a significant level of interest (Mean > 2.5) while the top 3 recommended topics were: Pain assessment and management, assessment and management of terminal delirium, agitation, anxiety, and assessment and management of terminal dyspnea. Pediatricians in a developing country are eager to learn more about PPC but significant gaps exist in current training in PPC in our country that need to be bridged. Copyright © 2021 Pediatric Hematology Oncology Chapter of Indian Academy of Pediatrics
Ul-Ain R; Faizan M; Mohamed A
Pediatric Hematology Oncology Journal
2021
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.phoj.2021.08.002" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.phoj.2021.08.002</a>
Psychometric properties of the Chinese mainland version of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale (PCSCCS-M) in nursing: a cross-sectional study
Nurses; Spiritual care; Competency; Validity and reliability
BACKGROUND: Spiritual care competencies are among the primary professional skills that enable best practices in nursing. Assessing these competencies and identifying those that are insufficient are important tasks. The traditional Chinese version of the Palliative Care Spiritual Care Competency Scale (PCSCCS) used in Taiwan is a well-validated tool to measure palliative caregivers' competencies in providing spiritual care. However, whether this scale is valid and reliable for use with nurses in other health-care contexts is unknown. The purpose of this study is to determine this version's validity and reliability for use with nurses in mainland China. METHODS: The PCSCCS was first converted into a simplified Chinese version (PCSCCS-M) from the traditional Chinese version used in Taiwan such that mainland nurses could read and understand it easily. Then, the validity and reliability of the PCSCCS-M was evaluated with 400 Chinese nurses recruited using convenience sampling from three university-affiliated comprehensive hospitals, two cancer hospitals, one psychiatric hospital, two traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, one marital and child service care center, and one community health service center. Concurrent validity was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficients of the PCSCCS-M and the Chinese version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (C-SCGS). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the construct validity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted using another sample of 351 nurses to verify the quality of the factor structures of the PCSCCS-M. An internal consistency test based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient and a stability test based on the Guttman split-half coefficient were also conducted. RESULTS: Useful data were obtained from 356 participants (response rate: 89%). EFA confirmed a three-dimensional structure of the scale after one item was deleted, and the three factors explained 63.839% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the three subscales were 0.811, 0.889 and 0.896, and the Guttman split-half coefficient for the PCSCCS-M was 0.862. Modified CFA indicated a well-fitting model. The correlation between the PCSCCS-M and C-SCGS was 0.340 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The PCSCCS-M is a brief, easy-to-understand, and psychometrically sound measurement tool to evaluate spiritual care competencies in nurses from mainland China.
Hu Y; Li F; Chiou J F
BMC Palliative Care
2019
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-019-0409-6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1186/s12904-019-0409-6</a>