Nursing staff knowledge in palliative care

Introduction: Palliative care (PC) is care that is focused on improving the quality of life of the patient and family. Objective: To identify the knowledge of nursing staff in palliative care. Methodology: The research was quantitative-descriptive, with a population of 15 nursing graduates who have worked in the care of patients with palliative needs. A survey was applied based on a questionnaire consisting of 21 items, which are distributed in 4 categories; 1st category: pain and symptom management, 2nd category: spiritual care, 3rd category: family care and 4th category: psychosocial care, with the aim of measuring the level of knowledge of the participants. Result: A high level of knowledge of how to provide PC was evident. In the first criterion 100% of the participants agree that adjuvant therapies are important for pain control, in the second criterion 78.6% consider that health care should be individualized according to the patient's beliefs, in the third criterion 100% consider it important that the family should always be involved in palliative care, finally in criterion four 100% consider that psychosocial care is interdisciplinary in nature. Conclusion: PC is a specialized branch of care aimed at improving the quality of life of patients facing serious or terminal illness, therefore, nurses must possess a wide range of knowledge and skills to provide quality care.