2017 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 61-70
The objective of the present study was to elucidate the actual conditions of cooperation between nurses and other professionals and the support for confirmation of intention regarding end-of-life care, as well as whether these factors are related to end-of-life care, at special nursing homes in Ehime prefecture. A questionnaire survey was conducted on nurses working at 94 special nursing homes in Ehime prefecture, and responses were obtained from 37 facilities. The most common timing of confirmation of intention regarding end-of-life care was following worsening of condition (91.9%), followed by the time of admission (70.3%). Nurses participated in the confirmation of intention at the time of admission at only 24.3% of facilities. As for relationships to end-of-life care, significant differences were observed based on physicians’ attitude toward end-of-life care, cooperation among nurses, and working arrangements of nurses. Specifically, at facilities with a high rate of end-of-life care, physicians had a positive attitude toward end-of-life care, nurses actively engaged in exchange of opinions among each other, and nurses worked late shifts. These results suggest that in order to promote end-of-life care at special nursing homes, it is important for nurses to cooperate with physicians and to support night-time care workers.
