Conhecimento de cuidados paliativos em um grupo de enfermeiras no México

Objective: To evaluate the level of palliative care knowledge of the nurses at the General Hospital of Celaya. Method: A quantitative, descriptive, observational and cross-sectional study was carried out from October 2017 to January 2018 in a second level hospital where patients receive palliative care in the areas of internal medicine, intensive care, surgery and emergencies. The study used a consecutive type sample with 40 nurses. The research used the "Questionnaire on Knowledge of Palliative care by Health Personnel" with 34 items with a dichotomous, true or false, type of response. Bioethics principles for research in human beings were respected and the anonymity of the participants was maintained. The mean of correct answers, their percentage and ANOVA for difference between groups was calculated. Results: In the knowledge about palliative care, the participants obtained an average of correct answers of 22.30 (minimum of correct answers = 16, maximum of correct answers = 27) and 65.58 % of the knowledge in palliative care. The highest percentage of knowledge in palliative care was obtained in the Family dimension (83.5 %) followed by Spirituality (83.12 %); on the other hand, the Diverse Knowledge dimension was the lowest with an average of correct answers of 55.83 %. Regarding the average of correct answers, the highest was in the Family dimension (4.17) and the lowest in General knowledge (2.92). Conclusions: The participating nurses have knowledge that can be improved; however, training in palliative care from basic education to specialization is necessary