This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1049909107312595v1 25/3/169    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Claxton-Oldfield, S. Articles by Claxton-Oldfield, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Claxton-Oldfield, S. Articles by Claxton-Oldfield, J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Nurses' Perceptions of Hospice Palliative Care Volunteers

Mount Allison University, sclaxton{at}mta.ca

Emily Hastings, BA

Mount Allison University

Jane Claxton-Oldfield

Tantramar Hospice Palliative Care Organization, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

A total of 50 nurses (hospital and home care) responded to a survey designed to measure: (1) their attitudes toward, and knowledge of, hospice palliative care volunteers; (2) the types of tasks they felt it was appropriate for volunteers to perform; and (3) how valuable they felt different members of the hospice palliative care team are. In addition, they were asked to respond to some open-ended questions (eg, "Do you feel that it is appropriate for hospice palliative care volunteers to know patient medical information?"). The nurses' responses to the "Attitude/Knowledge" part of the survey revealed that they generally held positive attitudes toward volunteers. The majority of the nurses felt that it was appropriate for volunteers to perform most of the tasks listed, except for hands-on patient care. Nurses rated the value of nurses, family members, doctors, and pharmacists significantly higher than volunteers. Fifty-three percent of the nurses felt that volunteers should know patient medical information, and 77% thought that volunteers should have the opportunity to provide input regarding patient care. Also, 75% of the nurses felt that volunteers made their jobs easier, and 56% felt that volunteers should be included in team meetings. When asked to list the topics covered in a hospice palliative care volunteer training program, 73% of the nurses indicated that they were not sure or did not know what topics were covered, indicating a lack of knowledge regarding volunteer training.

Key Words: hospice • palliative care • nurses' attitudes toward volunteers

This version was published on June 1, 2008

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 25, No. 3, 169-178 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1049909107312595


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?