The palliative care difficulty levels of the nursing students during clinical practices

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the palliative care difficulties experienced by nursing students during their clinical practice.Design and Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 305 nursing students at a university in Turkey. Data were collected using a student identification form and the palliative care difficulties scale.Findings: Nursing students experience a moderate level of difficulty in providing care for palliative care patients and receiving expert support facilitates their care initiatives.Practice Implications: It is important to support nursing students during their nursing education courses and clinical training, along with psychiatric nursing skills. K E Y W O R D Snursing students, palliative care, palliative care difficulties | INTRODUCTIONPalliative care is a specialized care that aims to improve the quality of life of the individuals and their families in chronic illness conditions (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases) that are life-restricting and incurable. 1,2 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 3 palliative care is an approach used to address the problems experienced by patients (children and adults) with lifethreatening illnesses and their families and emphasizes that it is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms (physical, psychological, communicative, etc.).Although the life span of humans has increased in line with the technological developments in the healthcare field, the rise in the frequency of chronic illnesses with age remains. 4 In a projection study involving England and Wales, it was reported that 75% of the people who were at the end-of-life stage would need palliative care. 5 A study conducted in Saudi Arabia with males over 55 years of age showed that the rate of chronic illnesses increased in line with age. 6 Of them, 31% had at least one chronic illness, and 34.5% at least two or more chronic illnesses. In an extensive study titled the Irish Longitudinal Study On Ageing-Wave 4, conducted in Ireland, chronic diseases were found to be more frequent in those aged 75 and over. 7 According to the results of the National Household Health Survey carried out in Turkey, the conditions requiring chronic care, such as a stroke due to cardiac disease, increased with age and the rate of chronic care was reported to be 1.3% in those between the ages of 15 and 29, while it was 18.8% in those who were 70 and over. 8 How to cite this article: Ünver S, Kızılcık Özkan Z, Giṙgiṅ BN.The palliative care difficulty levels of the nursing students during clinical practices.

Perceived barriers and motivators of undergraduate nursing students in end‐of‐life care: A qualitative study based on lived experiences

“…EoL care is considered difficult and complex, requiring advanced care and a multidisciplinary team approach (Riegel et al, 2021; Ünver et al, 2021). While the students stated that negative team communication, attitudes, and approaches were important challenges in providing EoL care, they highlighted that positive experiences had a motivating effect on their caregiving and learning experiences.…”

“…The students had difficulty in communicating with the patients and families, due to the patients' inability to express themselves verbally, the families being nervous due to the uncertainty of the process, and the failure to talk to the patients and families about the death process, so the students were left worried about giving EoL care to patients. Previous studies have reported that students with care experience in EoL were affected by the process: They did not know how to communicate with patients, and this situation negatively affected the care process (Edo‐Gual et al, 2014; Hold et al, 2015; Ünver et al, 2021). The findings of the current study are in alignment with those of the literature.…”