Medical Students as Hospice Volunteers: Reflections on an Early Experiential Training Program in End-of-Life Care Education

Mott, Melissa; Gorawara-Bhat, Rita; Marschke, Michael; Levine, Stacie

doi:10.1089/jpm.2013.0533

Cited by 29 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Research reports show that not only nursing and medical students, but also professionally active nurses and physicians do not consider themselves adequately prepared to provide care to dying patients. This is evidenced by opinions shared by physicians and nurses as well as by patients and their families [4,6,[8][9][10][11]. One must realise that the process of dying and death is special and, at the same time, difficult for the patients and their families on the one hand, but, on the other hand, for the medical staff as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The complexity of EOL requires from those working with dying persons not only appropriate knowledge and skills, but also deep empathy and a mature attitude towards his/her own and someone else's death. Regrettably, the results of research carried out globally and in Poland have shown that nursing and medical students do not feel prepared to provide care to patients at the end of their lives [5][6][7], and it is only after they start career that they acquire knowledge in this respect -this unfortunately acts against the quality of care [4].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Opinions of nursing and medical students before the end of their university education on their preparation for work with the dying patient

Mazur¹,

Dobrowolska

Rabiasz

et al. 2018

Polish Journal of Public Health

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Introduction. Well-implemented, holistic care of the dying patient requires appropriate qualifications from the medical personnel. Aim. The aim of the study was to collect the opinions of nursing and medical students before the end of their professional education on their preparation to provide care to the dying patient. Material and methods. The survey was carried out in a group of 213 medical and nursing students during their final year of professional education. Results. Students were unable to clearly express their opinion on their preparation to provide care to patients at the end of their lives (87; 40.8%). Nursing students were more likely to perceive themselves as prepared for such care – 30 (26.7%) than medical students – 11 (10.9%). Statistically significant correlation was observed. A large group of the students (92; 43.2%) had never been present at the scene of a patient’s death during clinical classes. The majority of the respondents chose ‘definitely not’ (59; 27.7%) and ‘rather not’ (53; 24.9%) answers when asked if their university education had prepared them for work with patients at the end of their lives. Students considered their knowledge to be lacking mostly in areas such as coping with their own emotions in the face of a patient’s death (137; 64.3%); communicating with a dying person (119; 55.9%); providing care to the patient’s family (154; 72.3%); cooperating with the patient’s family (125; 58.7%). Conclusions. Students of both majors are not certain about the level of their preparation to provide care to people at the end of their lives, nor about the extent to which their university education had introduced them to the specificity of care of a dying patient. The medical students were observed to exhibit higher statistical significance as compared to the nursing students. The university curriculum prepared the students to take care of the dying patient’s biological sphere, but did not prepare them to assume a holistic approach to care of the patient and his family.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opinions of nursing and medical students before the end of their university education on their preparation for work with the dying patient

Mazur¹,

Dobrowolska

Rabiasz

et al. 2018

Polish Journal of Public Health

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“…Medical students who performed some kind of voluntary work in a hospice reported that the work had intimately transformed them, 35 which suggests a process of self-reflection.…”

Section: Think There Is Great Mutual Learning On Both Sides! I Learmentioning

confidence: 99%

From donation to self-reflection: living of volunteers of a toy library for children with cancer

2018

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Objective: To understand what it means to be a volunteer in a cancer-affected children care unit´s toy library, located within the state of São Paulo. Method: Phenomenological study based on the assumptions related to the analysis of the stated phenomenon's structure, with eleven volunteers to be interviewed upon a guiding question: "What does it feel like to be a volunteer in a toy library used by children with cancer?". Results: From the volunteer's answers, three theme categories arose: self-oriented relations, group-oriented relations and world-oriented relations. Conclusion and implications for practice: Being a volunteer embraces diverse relationships that contribute to the self-knowledge of the individual, making it possible to review concepts, beliefs, values, according to the new times in which we live There is a need for volunteer empowerment for work as well as mental health care.Nurses play a fundamental role in this context. Keywords:Volunteers; Play and playthings; Neoplasms; Child; Nursing.resumo Objetivo: Compreender o significado de ser voluntário de uma brinquedoteca em uma casa de apoio para crianças com câncer.Método: Estudo fenomenológico a partir das premissas da análise da estrutura do fenômeno situado, com 11 voluntários entrevistados, a partir da questão norteadora: "Como é ser voluntário de uma brinquedoteca para crianças com câncer?". resumen Objetivo: Comprender el significado de ser un voluntario de una sala de juegos en una casa de apoyo para niños con cáncer.Método: Estudio fenomenológico de las hipótesis del análisis de la estructura del fenómeno situado, llevado a cabo con 11 voluntarios entrevistados a partir de la pregunta: "¿Cómo es ser voluntariado de una sala de juegos para niños con cáncer?". Resultados:Emergieron tres categorías temáticas: relaciones con si mismo; relaciones con el grupo; y relaciones con el mundo.Conclusión e implicaciones para la práctica: Ser voluntario abarca relaciones diversas que contribuyen al autoconocimiento del individuo, posibilitando revisar conceptos, creencias y valores, de acuerdo con los nuevos tiempos en que vivimos. Hay necesidad de capacitación de los voluntarios para el trabajo y también cuidados con relación a la salud mental. El enfermero tiene un papel fundamental en este contexto.

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“…To be effective, they should be accompanied by both regular support from recruited volunteers and communication activities to make them better known by facilities that are potentially interested. Another direction mentioned simultaneously by American [66] and Canadian [67] authors consists in raising the awareness of future physicians about issues linked to the end of life by proposing they spend several hours as a volunteer in a hospice during their first year of study. This work shows that the students who followed these programs-pilot programs for now-acquired very positive experience for themselves and for their future profession, whether in reducing fear in the face of death, in encouraging their personal reflections, or in learning to better communicate with patients and families.…”

Section: Palliative Care Volunteers In Pcsts and In Traditional Care mentioning

confidence: 99%

Volunteering in Palliative Care in France: “A Tough Job”; Patient, Family, Caregiver, and Volunteer Perspectives

Tibi-Lévy¹,

Bungener²

2017

Highlights on Several Underestimated Topics in Palliative Care

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This chapter discusses the place of volunteering in palliative care in the context of hospital services in France, and the meaning each actor gives to that presence. Its aim is to go beyond general normative discourse on the role of these volunteers in order to highlight their actions from a little-explored perspective (awkwardness, fears, reticence their activity can create) but one essential to their development. We attempt to understand how (and within what work settings) personnel and volunteers "work" together, and how that lay presence is perceived by patients and families. This research is based on a literature review and individual semi-structured interviews with patients, families, medical personnel, and volunteers in 10 hospitals. In all, 114 persons were interviewed in three work settings: palliative care units, mobile palliative care teams, and traditional services. The analysis highlighted a diversity of perceptions on volunteering, as a function of the type of actors involved and the work setting. It raises the question of the role of nonprofessional actors in hospitals, and of what form volunteering in palliative care should take in France, where volunteers explained they "are there" not "to do", but just "to be there out of human solidarity".

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Medical Students as Hospice Volunteers: Reflections on an Early Experiential Training Program in End-of-Life Care Education

Cited by 29 publications

References 25 publications

Opinions of nursing and medical students before the end of their university education on their preparation for work with the dying patient

Opinions of nursing and medical students before the end of their university education on their preparation for work with the dying patient

From donation to self-reflection: living of volunteers of a toy library for children with cancer

Volunteering in Palliative Care in France: “A Tough Job”; Patient, Family, Caregiver, and Volunteer Perspectives

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