Palliative care: A comparison of knowledge between physician assistant and family nurse practitioner students

Presented to the 10th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Heskett Center, Wichita State University, April 25, 2014.Research completed at Department of Physician Assistants, College of Health ProfessionsPalliative care aims to improve the quality of life for patients who face life-limiting illness, but adequate training provided to physician assistant (PA) students remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to assess PA student knowledge regarding palliative care and compare their knowledge to other mid-level healthcare providers. A reliable self-report questionnaire, the Palliative Care Knowledge Test (PCKT), was given to 44 pre-clinical PA students at the end of their didactic education and 31 family nurse practitioner (FNP) students at the comparable time in their educational program. FNP students had significantly higher scores overall and in 4 out of 5 subcategories. PA education should place more focus on proper care for the chronically ill and end-of-life patient.Graduate School, Academic Affairs, University Librarie