PROTOCOL Nurses’ knowledge about Palliative Care in long term care facilities for older people a scoping review.pdf

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicates that in developed countries, an average of 3 out of 10 citizens over 65 are living in long-term care settings (OECD, 2020b). In Republic of Ireland, from 2011 until 2016 nursing home residents older than 65 increased by 9.4%, meaning that 78.3% of this entire demographic resided in nursing homes (Central Statistics Office, 2016).

The term “geriatric palliative care” is now used to describe specific challenges that population aging represents, namely increased comorbidities and complex care needs (Voumard et. al, 2018) these include, but are not limited to, frailty, dementia, cardiac and renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dysphagia, polypharmacy, poor nutritional and hydration (Ersek & Carpenter, 2013; HSE, 2019).

Nurses’ knowledge is considered a corner stone of nursing practice as raises awareness and accountability, contributes to safety and quality of care, enhancing residents’ quality end-of-life, respecting their wishes and facilitating bereavement process for families (Fukada, 2018). The predictions of increased deaths in coming decades, flags the urgency to acknowledge the skills and knowledge of the nursing staff in such healthcare settings towards end-of-life.