Thoughts of Emergency Physicians about Palliative Care: Evaluation of Awareness

Aim: Palliative care is an increasingly important issue in emergency departments worldwide. The present study aimed to evaluate the perspectives and experienced problems of emergency physicians about palliative care. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire that includes main topics of palliative care was prepared, and it was sent through internet access to all emergency physicians who work in Turkey. The whole data were statistically analyzed by Predictive Analytics Software (PASW) 18 and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software 15.0 for Windows. Results: Ninety-five emergency physicians participated in the study. Most respondents reported reported getting no training about palliative care (77%). Most agreed that special training is required to acquire palliative care skills (91%), and 69% of emergency physicians want to get training on palliative care. Conclusion: Increasing awareness about palliative care is important in emergency departments and makes it possible for an early recognition and appropriate management of palliative care patients. The present study not only indicates the importance of education about palliative care but also contributes to increasing awareness on this issue. (JAEM 2015; 14: 75-8)