• Andrew Russ, David Mountain, Ian R Rogers, Freya Shearer, Leanne Monterosso, Gail Ross-Adjie, and Jeremy R Rogers.
• School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care, Emergency Medicine (Academic Unit), University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2015 Aug 1;27(4):287-94.

ObjectiveThe primary aim was to investigate staff experiences and attitudes towards palliative care provision in a public metropolitan ED.MethodsUsing a previously validated survey tool, data were collected from ED clinical staff using Likert-type, open-ended and dichotomous items asking about perceptions of palliative care and education needs. Comparisons were made between nursing and medical staff.ResultsMedical staff and nurses' perceptions of palliative care were similar, differing on only 10 of 37 (Likert) items. All staff reported confidence with symptom management, whereas medical staff felt more confident with decision-oriented communication and nurses were more supportive of nasogastric feeding. Staff were moderately accurate in determining the five most common causes of death. Four out of five conditions selected as appropriate for palliative care were cancer diagnoses. End-of-life communication and ethical issues were the two most frequently requested areas for further education.ConclusionsOur study suggests that overall ED staff were confident regarding symptom management in palliative care. Cancer diagnoses were overrepresented in both the top five causes of death and conditions most appropriate for a palliative approach, suggesting that staff might underestimate the role of a palliative approach in non-cancer diagnoses. Areas suggested for further education include communication and ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care.© 2015 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

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