Abstract: Objective: To investigate the knowledge status on palliative care of nurses from the oncology department in our hospital and analyze the influencing factors so as to provide references for further improvement of nurses' continuing education on palliative care. Methods: Totally 63 nurses in the oncology department of our hospital were enrolled and investigated by using the questionnaire of general information and knowledge of palliative care. Data about their knowledge and influencing factors was analyzed. Results: The standardized total scores of palliative care knowledge and attitudes of oncology nurses were (56.30±15.98) and (67.81±15.28), respectively. In case of palliative care knowledge, the standardized score of physical therapy was the highest and that of spiritual therapy was the lowest. As to palliative care attitudes, the standardized score of "the attitude of providing palliative care to patients and their families" was the highest, while the standardized score of "the current status of palliative care in hospitals" was the lowest. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that, educational backgrounds, professional titles, working time in the oncology department and religious beliefs were the influencing factors on palliative care knowledge of oncology nurses, and professional titles, working time in oncology and religious beliefs were the influencing factors on palliative care attitudes of oncology nurses. Conclusion: Nurses from the oncology department posses relatively little knowledge of palliative care, targeted education and training measures should be taken for nurses.

Key words: oncology; palliative care; knowledge; influencing factors