The Impact of the End-of-Life Nurse Education Consortium on Attitudes of Undergraduate Nursing Students Toward Care of Dying Patients

Abstract

This mixed methods study explored the impact of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)-Undergraduate Curriculum on perceived preparedness of undergraduate nursing students in the care of dying patients and the relationship between personal loss experience and undergraduate nursing students' attitudes regarding the ELNEC-Undergraduate Curriculum. Of the 36 undergraduate nursing students who completed ELNEC, 24 reported a personal loss of a close family member or friend to death and 12 reported no loss. Findings confirmed the overall positive impact and acceptability of ELNEC, but this effect was observed differently between students with and without previous loss. Students with personal loss were more aware of the challenges of end-of-life care before taking ELNEC and incorporated the content into a greater sense of preparedness. Study recommendations include placing ELNEC within didactic instruction by well-prepared faculty, creating simulation debrief groups composed of both students with and without loss, and faculty attention to the loss experiences of students.

Hope, death anxiety and simplified coping style scores of nursing students during the outbreak of COVID-19

“…[ 58 ] However, nursing students’ deliberate avoidance of death increases their negative emotional experiences during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 outbreak. [ 23 ] A prior study supported the hypothesis that death anxiety was a transdiagnostic construct that had no correlation with meaning in life or attachment style, and it was associated with various mental health conditions. [ 59 ] In theoretical and practical courses, nursing students inevitably encounter content about death, which is not often discussed in traditional Chinese culture, and they may choose avoidance, but events related to death may cause them to think about death, which exacerbates negative emotions.…”

“…[ 21 ] Previous studies showed that health providers have high death anxiety due to long-term mortality events, which may adversely affect the quality of care given to terminally ill patients. [ 21 – 23 ]…”

“…Nursing students have high levels of fear, anxiety and psychological death avoidance. [ 21 , 23 ] It is necessary to improve death education to increase the cognition of death and guide nursing students to face death actively to reduce their level of death anxiety.…”

Actitudes de las enfermeras frente a la muerte de los pacientes en una unidad de cuidados intensivos

“…Componente 1: aceptación de acercamiento (4,8,13,15,16,22,25,27,28,31) Componente 2: miedo a la muerte (1,2,7,18,20,21,32) Componente 3: evitación de la muerte (3,10,12,19,26) Componente 4: aceptación de escape (5,9,11,23,29) Componente 5: aceptación neutral (6,14,17,24,30) La aceptación de acercamiento se relaciona con creencias religiosas, en donde se tiene una mayor confianza y está presente la creencia de una vida feliz después de la muerte.…”

“…Finalmente, y como recomendación, efectuar una inmersión en el tema de enfermería y el final de la vida desde la formación académica de pregrado pudiera dar nuevas luces para entender las actitudes frente a la muerte, como ya se ha sugerido en otros países (21,22).…”