{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T17:24:51Z","timestamp":1787765091488,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787702400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital"},{"name":"Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen","award":["E010421002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["E010421002"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012151","name":"Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["No. SZSM202211012"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. SZSM202211012"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012151","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Global cancer incidence is expected to rise by 60% by 2040, intensifying the burden experienced by patients and their families. Palliative care improves quality of life in advanced disease and depends on oncology nurses\u2019 competencies in ethical decision-making, symptom management, and psychological resilience. Despite moderate overall proficiency, psychosocial shortcomings and heterogeneity in competency remain insufficiently characterized. This study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA), guided by shared decision-making and symptom management theories, to identify competency subgroups and associated factors among Chinese oncology nurses, aiming to guide targeted training interventions.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 241 oncology nurses from five hospitals in Shenzhen, China, between April and September 2025, using cluster sampling. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the 32-item Core Competency Questionnaire, and the Nurses\u2019 Professional Identity Scale. LPA models (1\u20134 classes) were fitted using R software (version 4.4.0). Univariate analyses, Analysis of Variance or Kruskal\u2013Wallis H tests, and multivariate logistic regression were performed with SPSS 29.0 to evaluate demographic and occupational factors associated with profile membership.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The mean core competency score was 76.02\u00a0\u00b1\u00a023.85 (59.3% of maximum). LPA revealed three distinct profiles: low-competency (27%), moderate -competency (45%), and high-competency (28%). The three-profile solution was selected by considering model fit indices, entropy, class proportions, and substantive interpretability (entropy = 0.931; Lo-Mendell-Rubin and bootstrap likelihood ratio tests\n P<\/jats:italic>\n <\u00a00.001). High-competency nurses scored 1.8-fold higher in ethical care, 2.4-fold higher in clinical practice, and 2.0-fold higher in psychological self-adjustment compared with the low-competency group (all\n P<\/jats:italic>\n <\u00a00.001). Systematic palliative care training was associated with higher odds of membership in the high-competency profile rather than the moderate-competency profile (\n OR<\/jats:italic>\n = 3.210, 95% CI [1.298\u20137.940],\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.012). Higher average monthly night-shift frequency was associated with lower odds of membership in the low-competency profile rather than the moderate-competency profile (\n OR<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.887, 95% CI [0.788\u20130.998],\n P<\/jats:italic>\n = 0.046). Profiles diverged significantly in professional identity (F = 24.11,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n \u00a0<\u00a00.001,\n \u03b7<\/jats:italic>\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n = 0.17).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Oncology nurses exhibit heterogeneous palliative care competencies characterized by strong ethical, moderate clinical, and weak psychological capacities. Systematic training was associated with high-competency profile membership, and targeted programs focusing on psychological self-adjustment may be explored in future longitudinal or interventional studies.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.21645","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T17:01:43Z","timestamp":1787763703000},"page":"e21645","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Heterogeneity and associated factors of palliative care core competency among oncology nurses: a latent profile analysis"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yang","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fangxin","family":"Luoye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Danhui","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/ Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhenhong","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuping","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanting","family":"Ning","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liqiong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center\/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer\/Cancer Hospital & Shenzhen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.21645\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"780","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp1109283","article-title":"Shared decision making\u2013pinnacle of patient-centered care","volume":"366","author":"Barry","year":"2012","journal-title":"The New England Journal of Medicine"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.21645\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21834","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.21645\/ref-3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"668","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2648.2001.01697.x","article-title":"Advancing the science of symptom 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