Impact of educational programs on nurses' knowledge and attitude toward pediatric palliative care.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of nurses toward pediatric palliative care (PPC) and examine the impact of an educational program on pediatric nurses' knowledge and attitude regarding PPC for children facing life-threatening illnesses or chronic diseases in Jordan. METHOD A quasi-experimental design was used. Exactly 120 pediatric nurses participated in the study, of which 60 were in the intervention group and 60 in the control group. RESULTS The results of the study showed that nurses had a low score in knowledge and attitude toward PPC. The mean knowledge score of PPC for the control group is 6.88 (SD = 2.26), while that of the intervention group was 7.92 (SD = 1.99; p = 0.052). The mean attitude for PPC score for the control group was 95.88 (SD = 7.90), while that of the intervention group was 100 (SD = 10.95; p = 0.009). Also, the educational intervention had a significant positive effect on the knowledge and attitude toward PPC among nurses. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESULTS Based on the result of this study, the authors found strong evidence of the effectiveness of the PPC educational program when it came to improving the nurses' knowledge and attitude toward PPC services and offer us an effective educational program.