{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03476946334089191, 'fraction_numerical': 0.015117157974300832, 'mean_word_length': 4.963963963963964, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 2, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Nurses' symptom management and views on death and caring for heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND
The number of older adult patients in Japan is increasing and symptom management is needed not only for cancer patients, but also non-cancer patients.


AIMS
This study investigated nurses' symptom management and their views on death and caring for heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was conducted. Survey items were implementation of assessment and non-pharmacological interventions for 14 symptoms at the end-of-life stage, participation in palliative care training courses and attitude toward death and caring, as assessed by the Frommelt attitude toward care of the dying (FATCOD) Scale.


RESULTS
A total of 266 (78.5%) nurses responded. More than 90% implemented symptom assessment of dyspnea and cough for both HF and COPD. The mean FATCOD score was 114.7, participation in on-the-job palliative care training courses (p<0.01), and difficulty with near-death issues (p<0.01) were significantly associated with the FATCOD.


CONCLUSION
These results suggest that nurses assessed the major symptoms of HF and COPD. Training courses are important to promote palliative care for non-cancer patients.