Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy Toward Palliative Care in Vietnam: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives To assess undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy toward palliative care, and to identify key predictors of self-efficacy in Vietnam. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited 120 undergraduate nursing students from a university in southern Vietnam between June and July 2024. Vietnamese versions of 3 validated instruments were used to measure students’ palliative knowledge (Palliative Care Knowledge Test), attitude (Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale - Form B), and self-efficacy (Palliative Care Self - Efficacy Scale). Multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify key predictors of self-efficacy. Results The mean scores among undergraduate nursing students were 11.86 ± 2.40 out of 22 for palliative care knowledge, 103.58 ± 7.21 out of 150 for attitude, and 22.86 ± 6.02 out of 48 for self-efficacy. These results indicated a good level of knowledge, a generally positive attitude, and a low level of self-efficacy toward palliative care. A positive correlation was found among knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy toward palliative care. Knowledge was identified as a significant predictor of self-efficacy, explained 25.3% of the total variance. Conclusions Palliative care knowledge significantly predicted self-efficacy among undergraduate nursing students. Enhancing knowledge may serve as an effective strategy to strengthen their confidence in providing palliative care. Future interventions should address area of limited knowledge to improve overall self-efficacy.