Oregon hospice nurses and social workers' assessment of physician progress in palliative care over the past 5 years.

Background: The 1997 enactment of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act intensified interest in improving physician education and skills in caring for patients at the end of life.

Objective: To obtain hospice nurse and social workers' collateral ratings of efforts made by Oregon physicians to improve their palliative care skills over the previous 5 years.

Design: A descriptive survey of nurses and social workers from all 50 Oregon outpatient hospice agencies.