LAUSR

BACKGROUND Little is known about the quality of death of terminally ill patients in hospitals in Thailand. AIM To examine the quality of death of terminally ill patients and investigate correlations between the quality of death and the organisational climate; nurses' palliative care knowledge; nurses' palliative care practice; and nurses' perceptions of barriers in providing palliative care. METHODS A cross-sectional survey design was used. Data collected among 281 nurses were analysed by descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Spearman's rank correlation. RESULTS The overall quality of death of terminally ill patients in the hospital was moderate. Organisational climate and nurses' palliative care practice positively correlate with terminally ill patients' quality of death. Nurses' difficulty in providing palliative care negatively correlates with terminally ill patients' quality of death. CONCLUSION Promoting an organisational climate and enhancing nurses' palliative care practice may improve the quality of death of terminally ill patients in this hospital.