Hong-Rui Shi
West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University, China
Title: Attitudes toward death of nursing undergraduates: a mixed method nursing research
Biography
Biography: Hong-Rui Shi
Abstract
Background: A majority of nurses struggled with a negative emotion of anger, doubt, fear or anxiety, uncomfortable in the face of death and dying. However, little is known about nursing students in China. Our study was to investigate nursing undergraduates’ attitudes toward death, and analysis of their experience of patient death in-depth. To provide reference for promoting death education and hospice care in medical colleges.
Methods: A total of 1000 nursing undergraduates who were from four medical colleges in Shanxi were investigated by Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R-C), and a qualitative phenomenological methodology was used. Fifteen nursing students who had experienced the death of patients were interviewed. The Colaizzi’s methodology was used to analyze the data.
Results: The average score of students’ attitudes toward death was 2.82±0.40. Four dimensions were extracted: complex psychological and emotional reactions, lack of professional knowledge and skills, coping style, the impact of death experience on nursing students.
Conclusions: Though nursing undergraduates had a negative attitude towards death, the demand of death education is high. Required or elective courses of death education with varied teaching methods may be a good choice for nursing undergraduates. Meanwhile, emotional support should be given to nursing students who have experienced a patient’s death.