Impact of spirituality, emotional intelligence and self-efficacy on the perception of the ability to provide care at the end of life

Abstract

Palliative care (PC) is a differentiated healthcare area focused on promoting comfort, and preventing and alleviating suffering. End-of-life (EOL) care is integrated into this branch of medicine and will have great relevance in the near future as a result of increased life expectancy and highly disabling chronic diseases. It is imperative that healthcare professionals have the capacity and preparation to guarantee this care. The objective of this work is to propose a model that relates spirituality, emotional intelligence, PC knowledge, self-efficacy, and the ability of doctors and nurses to provide EOL care. A questionnaire was applied to collect data. The relationships between these latent variables were evaluated using structural equation models. The results indicate that self-efficacy, spirituality and knowledge positively influence the ability to provide EOL care. Emotional intelligence and spirituality directly and positively affect self-efficacy. Emotional intelligence has an indirect effect, mediated by self-efficacy, on the ability to provide EOL care.