The effect of palliative care lesson towards the students attitudes of death

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Emel Gulnar, Husna Ozveren and Nebahat Bora Gunes

Kirikkale University, Turkey

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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Introduction: Nurses have significant roles in the services given to the patients and families in palliative care. To build up a qualified nursing care for the palliative care patients, the lessons about palliative care should be integrated into the core of nursing education. Aim: This research was conducted to explore the effects of palliative care lessons towards students’ attitudes of death. Method: The scope of this descriptive study was consisting of 50, 4th grade Bachelor of Nursing students. Due to the availability of the whole scope, all the students were included into the sample. The data were collected via demographic characteristics questionnaire and Death Attitude Profile-Revised/DAP-R. Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) was developed by Wong T P and colleagues (1994). The Turkish version of the form was studied by Çevik (2010). The survey instrument used in this study was DAP-R. Results: 88% of the students were female, 66% were willing to provide care to the patients who are about to die, 34% met a death case and 90% agreed with the idea of the patients who was about to die should be informed about their prognoses. The mean score of the DAP-R was 4.29±0.47. The subdimensions were as following: fear of death was 3.92±0.94, death avoidance was 3.29±1.02, neutral acceptance was 5.44±0.66, approach acceptance was 4.86±0.71 and escape acceptance was 3.55±1.13. The relationship between the experience of the students about meeting death or to serve to the patients about to die and the mean score of the death avoidance which is one of the subdimensions were found statistically significant. (p<0.05). Conclusion: The analysis confirmed that palliative care lecture effects the students’ attitude towards death. According to these results, from integrated palliative care lessons to the core of nursing education should be offered.

Biography

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Emel Gulnar has expertise in fundamentals of Nursing. Her field of study is parenteral drug management, urinary incontinence and palliative care. She has participated in various symposiums, courses and congresses in related fields. She has worked as a Clinical Nurse in a hospital for 6 years and works as a Research Assistant in an educational institution for 3 years. She is also PhD student and writing thesis.