Motivations for hospice palliative care volunteerism and its associated factors among Chinese nursing undergraduates: a latent profile study

To identify the potential categories of motivations for hospice palliative care among nursing undergraduates and to explore the influencing factors of different categories of motivations for hospice palliative nursing undergraduates. A cross-sectional study using the Inventory of Motivations for Hospice Palliative Care Volunteerism scale with 460 nursing undergraduates was conducted. Latent profile analysis was used to explore the nursing students’ motivations for hospice palliative care and using multinomial logistic regression to analyze the related factors of motivations for hospice palliative care. The overall mean score for motivations for hospice palliative care in nursing was (93.98 ± 18.48). There were three different subgroups of motivations for hospice palliative care characteristics, namely the “lack of motivation group” (33.8%), the “selfless contribution group” (37.1%), and the “initiative-oriented group” (29.1%). Choice of nursing profession, supportive attitude of family members, and parents’ involvement in the healthcare industry were associated with different profiles (p < 0.05). A potential preliminary association was observed between urban residence and the initiative-oriented group (OR = 0.597, p = 0.048), with a modest effect size and wide confidence interval indicating low estimation precision. Most nursing undergraduates have been categorized in the “selfless contribution group”. Students whose family member did not support hospice and chose the nursing profession for parent’s choice were the main factors for lack of motivation for hospice palliative care. Therefore, fostering accurate understanding of hospice palliative care among family members may be essential to enhance students’ motivation. Additionally, attention should be paid to cultivating students’ professional values and recognition during their undergraduate studies, which can further stimulate their motivation to engage in hospice palliative care.