Psychometric Properties of a Scale to Assess Nursing Attitudes Toward Care at the End of Life in Colombia: The fatcod-s Scale

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing staff must cope with the complexities of caring for people with life-threatening illnesses. This study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of the Colombian version of the Frommelt Scale (fatcod-s) and determine the relationship between fatcod-s scores and sociodemographic and training-related variables. Materials and methods: Nursing professionals working oncological ser-vices of three healthcare institutions in Medelln (Colombia) and those participating in an academic inter-est group were invited to participate in this quantitative cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic and training-related variables were collected, and fatcod-s was administered. A principal component analysis was conducted, and Cronbach’s alpha was obtained. Descriptive and comparative statistics were also obtained. Results: Overall, 83 nurses were enrolled, with a median age of 34 (interquartile range, 7) years. Among them, 96.3% were women, 51.2% worked in hospitals, 31.7% worked <2 years in the service, and 35.4% had 2–5 years of experience in caring for patients with cancer. fatcod-s showed solid psychometric properties, and its total average score was 87.6 (standard deviation 8.2). Positive attitudes toward family and experiences with dying were related to training and professional experience. Conclusions: The attitudes of the participating nursing professionals toward palliative care for patients at the end of life tend to be very positive and are associated with their type of training and professional experience. Academic nursing programs should encourage training in caring attitudes toward dying, which in time fosters the wellbeing of the staff and their patients.