Current Status of End-of-Life Care Education in Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the current status of end-of-life (EoL) care education of the undergraduate nursing curriculum and senior students' EoL care experience and competency. Methods: A survey was conducted with 41 nursing schools and 622 senior nursing students on June 2018. The questionnaire consisted of 38 items on teaching regarding EoL care and 17 items on EoL care competencies based on the suggestions made by the American Nurses Association. Results: Only 20% among 41 nursing schools opened an EoL care course as an elective, and the course was taken by 5.1% students. Of 622 students, 70.7% witnessed death of patients during their clinical training, but 74.8% received no or little education on EoL care from their clinical training instructors. Two of 38 education contents on EoL care were taught in class for over 80% of the students. All students scored below 3 points (2.31±0.66) for all 17 competencies, which means that they cannot perform EoL care. Conclusion: This study showed that there was a serious deficiency in undergraduate nursing education on EoL care. Accordingly, most nursing students who would graduate soon considered themselves incapable of performing EoL care. Nurses experience death and dying as a part of their practice and should be prepared to provide adequate EoL care. Therefore, it is urgent to improve EoL care training in the undergraduate nursing education.

Registered Nurses’ Experiences of End-of-Life Care in Nursing Homes of South Korea: A Qualitative Study

“…An improvement in understanding and better attitudes toward the different processes of EOL, as well as the reinforcement of self-confidence and self-efficacy in nursing home employees through education, can enhance the quality of EOL care [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. However, only 20% of Korean nursing colleges offer an independent curriculum for EOL care, and students who have completed this course account for only 5.1% [ 46 ]. Furthermore, although EOL skills and competency are highly required in nursing homes [ 44 ], continuing education for RNs is almost absent in Korean nursing homes.…”

Understanding Nurses’ Experiences and Perceptions of End-of-Life Care for Cancer Patients in Korea: A Scoping Review

“…Several studies explicitly expressed the need for education in areas of EOL care, including pain, symptom, and case management, and a number of studies showed that nurses experienced above-average stress due to lack of EOL care knowledge and skills. In Korea, the typical undergraduate nursing curriculum gives little attention to EOL care, 52 and many nurses begin practice without prior training in this area.…”

“…In fact, EOL care instruction has been delivered only in elective courses at a few Korean universities, presumably because EOL care is not included on the Korean nursing licensure examination and because not many faculty members have EOL care competencies. 52,54 Therefore, as part of their orientation after hiring, EOL care education should be supplied to nurses who are likely…”

Validity and reliability of Korean version of the nursing staff preparedness for palliative and end-of-life care in long-term care homes: A methodological study

“…생애말기 노인과 가족에 대한 돌봄이 효과적으로 수행되려면, 장 기요양시설 종사자들이 생애말기 돌봄과 완화 돌봄에 대한 지식과 기술을 습득하고, 임종과 죽음에 대한 개방적 태도를 갖추기 위한 교 육이 필요하다. 그러나 국내 간호종사자 대상 완화•생애말기 돌봄 교 육 현황을 보면, 간호사의 경우 학부에서 말기환자 간호 교과목 이수 비율이 5.1%에 불과하고 [8], 요양보호사의 경우 교육훈련이 신체 돌 봄 중심으로 되어 있으며, 죽음 상황에 대한 대처 기술 교육은 이론 교육 3시간에 불과하다 [9]. 이로 인해 갑작스러운 노인의 죽음에 직 면했을 때, 준비가 미비한 간호종사자들이 겪는 스트레스와 부담감 이 상당하며 [10], 안정되고 질 높은 돌봄을 제공하기에 많은 어려움 이 따르는 것 [9]으로 알려져 왔다.…”

“…그러나 국내에서는 장기요양시설의 상황과 종 사자의 인구•사회학적 배경 등을 충분히 고려한 종사자 교육에 앞서 돌봄 준비도 수준을 측정하는 도구조차 개발되지 않은 상태다. 이에 선행연구들이 급성기 병원의 의료인(의사, 간호사 등)을 위해 개발된 도구를 요양보호사들에게 사용함으로써 [8,9], 장기요양시설 종사자 대상 교육 돌봄 준비도를 정확하게 파악하기 어려운 한계가 있었다.…”