Evaluating ICU nurses' education, practice, and competence in palliative and end-of-life care in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

In palliative and end-of-life (PEOL) care, especially within intensive care units (ICUs), nurses' unique skills are critical, yet their expertise remains under-explored, particularly in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to evaluate the education, practice, and perceived competence of adult ICU nurses in Saudi Arabia regarding PEOL care and to pinpoint key factors that influence this aspect of healthcare delivery. A cross-sectional design was utilized in this study. Participants were recruited from five public hospitals and one specialized center in Hail, Saudi Arabia. Data were gathered in September 2023 using the PEOL Care Index, which measures various care dimensions on a Likert scale in Arabic and English. IBM SPSS Statistics 29.0 was used for statistical analysis, particularly to conduct ANOVA, t-test, and multiple regression. 142 out of the targeted 171 ICU nurses completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 83.04%. Although 81% of the nurses had experience caring for dying patients, only 30.3% had received in-service PEOL care training. Those with this training demonstrated significantly higher scores in education, clinical practice, and perceived competence than their counterparts (