scholarly journals Two prelicensure nursing programs assess readiness to standardize palliative and end of life care curriculum

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andra L. Davis ◽  
Megan E. Lippe

There is a growing imperative for nurses to be adequately trained to care for patients with serious, life-limiting illness. However, the current nursing education system requires vast content areas be taught, resulting in minimal emphasize on palliative and end-of-life care and inadequate preparation of nurses to care for dying patients upon entering practice. To address the need for enhanced palliative and end-of-life care integration within their respective programs, two universities conducted needs assessments to determine the best next steps in enhancing student preparation to care for patients with serious, life-limiting illness. One university engaged in a three-part needs assessment resulting in the formation of an ad hoc committee to guide discussions for content integration. The second university engaged in a faculty-led survey to identify areas for improvement within the program. The purpose of this paper is to describe the processes and challenges encountered by both schools to aid other programs that may be considering or preparing for a similar endeavor.

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Staffan Lundström ◽  
Bertil Axelsson ◽  
Per-Anders Heedman ◽  
Greger Fransson ◽  
Carl Johan Fürst

Background: The complexity of end-of-life care, represented by a large number of units caring for dying patients, different types of organizations and difficulties in identification and prognostication, signifies the importance of finding ways to measure the quality of end-of-life care. Aim: To establish, test and manage a national quality register for end-of-life care. Design: Two questionnaires were developed with an attempt to retrospectively identify important aspects of the care delivered during the last week in life. An internet-based IT platform was created, enabling the physician and/or nurse responsible for the care during the last week in life to register answers online. Setting: Units caring for dying people, such as hospital wards, home care units, palliative in-patient care units and nursing facilities. Results: The register received status as a National Quality Register in 2006. More than 30,000 deaths in nursing facilities, hospital wards, palliative in-patient units and private homes were registered during 2010, representing 34% of all deaths in Sweden and 58% of the cancer deaths. Conclusions: We have shown that it is feasible to establish a national quality register in end-of-life care and collect data through a web-based system. Ongoing data analyses will show in what way this initiative can lead to improved quality of life for patients and their families. There is an ongoing process internationally to define relevant outcome measures for quality of care at the end-of-life in different care settings; the registry has a potentially important role in this development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Maryam Yaqoob ◽  
Husain Nasaif ◽  
Hana Kadhom

Background: Nursing students are frequently exposed to dying patients during their clinical placement. Research studies that examined nursing students’ attitudes toward caring for dying patients were limited in the Gulf Region, including Bahrain.Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of fourth-year baccalaureate nursing students regarding caring for dying patients.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized to recruit a convenience sample of fifty-four nursing students. Frommelt’s Attitudes towards Caring of the Dying (FATCOD) five Likert scale was used.Results: The overall findings revealed that participants had a neutral attitude toward caring for dying patients. The overall attitudes mean score was 3.4 ± 0.3. The majority of participants were female (83%, n = 45). The difference in the mean score in relation to gender was statistically significant (p = .049). Although the majority of all participants (80%) reported having dealt with the terminally ill people in the past, the association between previous experience and reported attitudes was not statistically significant (p = .31).Conclusions and recommendations: Literature revealed that students who received end of life education where found to have positive attitudes. Therefore, it’s crucial to introduce a standalone educational module regarding end of life care early on in the undergraduate curriculum. It is recommended that future studies recruit nursing students from other baccalaureate year levels to reassess the attitudes and level of preparedness following a curriculum reform and implementation of end of life care education. Additionally, a qualitative research method is recommended to explore the lived experience of the nursing students when they are caring for dying patients.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282096123
Author(s):  
Deniz Sanli ◽  
Fatma Iltus

Nursing students may feel unprepared to manage the care of dying individuals and may experience anxiety and fear related to death and dying. Preparing nursing students for this situation can help them provide quality care to dying patients. This study aimed to examine the end-of-life care values and behaviors and death attitudes of senior nursing students. In examining these variables, the Values and Behaviors of Intensive Care Nurses for End-of-Life Instrument and the Death Attitude Profile-Revised Scale were used. It was found that the students developed positive attitudes and behavior towards end-of-life care, and that they believed death to be a natural part of life and there is life after death. Students who felt that the information they received during their education was partially sufficient were more likely to have negative death attitudes. It can be recommended that teaching strategies in the education of the nursing students be developed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Karlsson ◽  
Ingela Berggren

Nowadays it is increasingly common that the patients in the end of life phase choose to be cared for in their own home. Therefore it is vital to identify significant factors in order to prevent unnecessary suffering for dying patients and their families in end-of-life homecare. This study aimed to describe 10 nurses’ perceptions of significant factors that contribute to good end-of-life care in the patients own home. The transcribed texts from the interviews’ were analyzed using phenomenological hermeneutical method, which focuses on the life-world of human beings. The results demonstrate that good end-of-life care presupposes that the aim of the caring staff is to provide safety, autonomy and integrity for the patient and family in order to create the respect required for as good and dignified a death as possible.


1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER J. AIKMAN ◽  
ELAINE C. THIEL ◽  
DOUGLAS K. MARTIN ◽  
PETER A. SINGER

The Institute of Medicine's report, “Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life,” the American Medical Association's “Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care” project, the Open Society Institute's “Project on Death in America,” and the “Last Acts” initiative sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have focused attention on improving the care of dying patients. These efforts include advance care planning and the use of written advance directives (ADs). Although previous studies have provided quantitative descriptions of patient preferences for life-sustaining treatment, including those documented in written ADs, to our knowledge open-ended written preferences have not been studied. Studies of these open-ended preferences could highlight issues with respect to quality end-of-life care. The purpose of this study was to explore the open-ended proxy, health, and personal care preferences of people with HIV as expressed in a written AD form.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Cavaye ◽  
Jacqueline H. Watts

Recent policy has raised the profile of end-of-life care internationally, with the aim of increasing access to quality care for everyone experiencing life-limiting illness. This reflects an international shift in the provision of palliative care to encompass chronic conditions other than cancer. Nurses have an important role in delivering this care and need to be equipped with particular knowledge and skills. However, pre-registration nursing curricula have traditionally had a limited emphasis on death and dying and nurses report feeling unprepared to care for dying patients. This has led to claims that death education in pre-registration curricula is inadequate. This integrated review explores the published literature that reports on death education within pre-registration nurse education. Presenting an international overview, the aim of the review is to contribute to knowledge about the nature and extent of death education in pre-registration curricula. In the context of this paper, death education encompasses both palliative and end-of-life care. Electronic searches of major bibliographic databases found inconsistencies across educational provision with variations in quantity, content, and approach. Despite an increasing amount of death education in pre-registration curricula, there remains a deficit in key areas such as knowledge, skills, organisation of care, and teamwork.


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