Nursing students’ experiences of their first encounter with death during clinical practice in Taiwan

Abstract

Several recommendations have been made, including teaching and support not only in the period of dying, but at the moment of patient death and postmortality. Avoiding topics about death in local culture have been noted.

The impact of death and dying on nursing students: an explanatory model

“…The major impact of the first experience of death has also been described by other authors who highlight the need for training on this issue (Huang et al . , Kent et al . , Whyte et al .…”

Undergraduate nursing students caring for cancer patients: hermeneutic phenomenological insights of their experiences

“…The reported emotional exhaustion of the students that emerged as a finding of the current study stresses the necessity of high-quality preparation and support to both professional nurses and nursing students in relation to the care of terminally ill patients [9,12,13]. The emotional depletion seemed to be experienced by the students as a situation that they could not escape from.…”

“…This aspect facilitated their clinical experiences and promoted their abilities to provide efficient care to the patients tackling difficult situations. On the contrary, in the studies of Huang et al [12] and http://Saarikoski et al [24], nursing students reported that during the period of caring for near-death patients, mentors and nurses were providing guidance and support in terms of preparing the students caring for terminally ill patients while little help was given during the dying process and the bereavement phase. The lack of support resulted in struggling to manage their feelings and ill-prepared them to offer support for the loved ones left behind.…”

“…death and dying scenarios, angry relative, bereaved relative) on which students can reflect on can facilitate their better preparation for interacting with patients and their families by developing skills for providing comfort, responding to anger, responding to other nursing staff as well as responding to the family’s needs. During the clinical placement it is important to have a mentor that would support the nursing students in these cases and help the students overcome any painful experiences when facing for example a patient’s death [12]. The education of nursing staff in mentoring nursing students as well as supporting them in such situations is also recommended in line with the studies of Cunningham et al [10] and Sadala and da Silva [9].…”

“…Huang et al [12] in a descriptive qualitative study with 12 students in Taiwan explored the experiences of nursing students’ encountering death during their clinical practice. Findings showed that nursing students experienced feelings of terror and self-affirmation when providing care during the dying period as well as the difficulty of seeing patient’s suffering.…”