University Nursing Students Attitudes toward Care for dying patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/saludcyt2025543Keywords:
attitudes, death, dying patients, nursing studentsAbstract
Introduction: Care of dying patients is a critical component of nursing that requires a compassionate and well-informed approach. However, nursing students often exhibit varied attitudes towards caring for dying patients, influenced by cultural, educational, and personal factors. Understanding these attitudes is essential to improve nursing education and patient care. The study aims to explore the attitudes of nursing students at University towards caring for dying patients and identify the factors influencing these attitudes.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 nursing students from the 3rd and 4th years at University.
Result: Nursing students had positive attitudes towards caring of death 69% and a positive attitude towards caring for dying patients, escape acceptance and death avoidance were significant negative predictors, while moderate acceptance, higher academic level and female gender were significant positive predictors of caring for dying patients. positive relationship according to level of years with4th years.
Conclusion: this study explored the attitudes of nursing students at University towards care for dying patients, and the factors influencing these attitudes. While findings show a relatively positive level of attitudes towards care for dying patients, especially the attitudes toward care of dying patients', this could be due to the lack of knowledge and skills about caring for dying patients. However, their attitudes were more positive regarding the care of dying patients, especially emphasizing family involvement.
References
Jafari M, Rafiei H, Nassehi A, Soleimani F, Arab M, Noormohammadi MR. Caring for dying patients: attitude of nursing students and effects of education. Indian Journal of Palliative Care. 2015 May;21(2):192.https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.156497
Abu-El-Noor NI, Abu-El-Noor MK. Attitude of Palestinian nursing students toward caring for dying patients: A call for change in health education policy. Journal of Holistic Nursing. 2016 Jun;34(2):193-9.
Alwawi AA, Abu-Odah H, Bayuo J. Palliative care knowledge and attitudes towards end-of-life care among undergraduate nursing students at Al-Quds University: Implications for Palestinian education. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022 Aug 3;19(15):9563.. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159563
Zulfatul A’la M, Setioputro B, E Kurniawan D. Nursing students’ attitudes towards caring for dying patients.M8(1), 252018 . https://doi.org/10.14710/nmjn.v8i1.17270
Cerit B. Influence of training on first-year nursing department students’ attitudes on death and caring for dying patients: A single-group pretest–posttest experimental study. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying. 2019 Mar;78(4):335-47.
Cao W, Li C, Zhang Q, Tong H. Perceptions on the current content and pedagogical approaches used in end-of-life care education among undergraduate nursing students: a qualitative, descriptive study. BMC Medical Education. 2022 Jul 16;22(1):553.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03625-y
World Health Organization: WHO. (2020, August 5). Palliative care. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/palliative-care
Shi H, Shan B, Zheng J, Peng W, Zhang Y, Zhou X, Miao X, Hu X. Knowledge and attitudes toward end-of-life care among community health care providers and its influencing factors in China: A cross-sectional study. Medicine. 2019 Nov 1;98(45):e17683.. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000017683
Berndtsson IE, Karlsson MG, Rejnö ÅC. Nursing students’ attitudes toward care of dying patients: A pre-and post-palliative course study. Heliyon. 2019 Oct 1;5(10)., 5(10).
Cox K, Bird L, Arthur A, Kennedy S, Pollock K, Kumar A, Stanton W, Seymour J. Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature. BMJ supportive & palliative care. 2013 Mar 1;3(1):37-45.https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2012-000203
Henoch I, Browall M, Melin-Johansson C, Danielson E, Udo C, Sundler AJ, Björk M, Ek K, Hammarlund K, Bergh I, Strang S. The Swedish Version of the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale. Cancer Nursing. 2013.
Dimoula M, Kotronoulas G, Katsaragakis S, Christou M, Sgourou S, Patiraki E. Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards end-of-life care: A three-cohort, cross-sectional survey. Nurse Education Today. 2019 Mar 1;74:7-14.
Sinclair S. Impact of death and dying on the personal lives and practices of palliative and hospice care professionals. Cmaj. 2011 Feb 8;183(2):180-7.https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.100511
Xu F, Huang K, Wang Y, Xu Y, Ma L, Cao Y. A questionnaire study on the attitude towards death of the nursing interns in eight teaching hospitals in Jiangsu, China. BioMed research international. 2019;2019(1):3107692.
Salameh B, Ayed A, Fashafsheh I, Alrazeeni DM, Batran A, Ahmed F. Nursing Students' Understanding of Palliative Care in Palestine. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. 2023 Apr 1;46(2):203-16.
Ferri C, Giuggioli D, Raimondo V, Dagna L, Riccieri V, Zanatta E, Guiducci S, Tavoni A, Foti R, Cuomo G, De Angelis R. COVID-19 and systemic sclerosis: clinicopathological implications from Italian nationwide survey study. The Lancet Rheumatology. 2021 Mar 1;3(3):e166-8.
Abu-El-Noor NI, Abu-El-Noor MK. Attitude of Palestinian nursing students toward caring for dying patients: A call for change in health education policy. Journal of Holistic Nursing. 2016 Jun;34(2):193-9.
Mallory JL. The impact of a palliative care educational component on attitudes toward care of the dying in undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Professional Nursing. 2003 Sep 1;19(5):305-12.https://doi.org/10.1016/s8755-7223(03)00094-2
Zubedeh, M. A., Mayaleh, A. R. A., Qtait, M., & Sayej, S. (2016). Physicians and nurses knowledge, attitude, and practices in the Management of Childhood Fever in Hebron Pediatric Clinics. J. Health Med. Nurs, 31, 105-20.
Qtait, M. M. T., & Sayej, S. (2016). Demographic variable (Age, Gender, Marital Status, and Educational Qualifications, in Come) and Afeecte in nurses’ performance in hebron hospitals. Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing, 24(1), 89-95.
Davis D, Maughan ED, White KA, Slota M. School nursing for the 21st century: Assessing scope of practice in the current workforce. The Journal of School Nursing. 2021 Oct;37(5):374-86.https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/scope-of-practice/
Zahran Z, Hamdan KM, Hamdan‐Mansour AM, Allari RS, Alzayyat AA, Shaheen AM. Nursing students’ attitudes towards death and caring for dying patients. Nursing Open. 2022 Jan;9(1):614-23.
Lewis C, Reid J, McLernon Z, Ingham R, Traynor M. The impact of a simulated intervention on attitudes of undergraduate nursing and medical students towards end of life care provision. BMC palliative care. 2016 Dec;15:1-6.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-016-0143-2
Taha H. Ethnography of death in Palestine. Journal of Historical Archaeology and Anthropological Sciences. 2018;3(1):143-8..
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Nesreen Alqaissi, Mohammed Qtait, Juman Omar Almuhtaseb, Rawand Jibreen Albakri, Shahd Majed Za’aqeq, Noor Bassam Imam, Ahmad Nedal Shaheen (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Unless otherwise stated, associated published material is distributed under the same licence.
