Knowledge and Experiences of Final Year Medical and Nursing Students with Regard to Palliative Care at Government University in Oman: A Questionnaire Based Study

Nursing students perspectives of psychosocial care: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Psychosocial care is an integral component of holistic nursing practices. This study aimed to examine how fourth-year nursing students at Mutah University perceive various care characteristics, specifically psychosocial care.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted using the Caring Dimension Inventory (CDI). Data were obtained from 105 nursing students before graduating from a Jordanian public educational institution. Data analyzed using the scoring of CDI and descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

The mean scores in the professional and technical domain of care were statistically higher for fourth-year nursing students (4.69 ± 0.25). This exceeded their scores in the psychosocial domain of care (3.37 ± 1.20). This suggests that fourth-year nursing students prioritize professional and technical care over psychosocial care.

CONCLUSIONS

Fourth-year nursing students tended to perceive the technical aspects of care as more significant than the psychosocial aspects. This highlights the need for nursing schools and healthcare providers to reconsider their focus and prioritize the importance of psychosocial care.

The effect of death education course utilizing constructivist learning theory on first grade undergraduate nursing student attitudes and coping abilities towards death: A mixed study design

Inadequate clinical preparation for palliative care is often reflected in inadequate education about death. Nursing students as nurses of the future, it is necessary to make them aware of death and overcome fear of it so that they can cope with their future careers and provide qualified and warmly care service.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the effect of death education course using constructivist learning theory on first grade undergraduate nursing student attitudes and coping abilities towards death.

DESIGN

This study was designed using a mixed-methods design.

SETTING

Two campuses of a university school of nursing in China.

PARTICIPANTS

First grade Bachelor of Nursing Science students (n = 191).

METHODS

Data collection includes questionnaires and reflective writing as after class task. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. As for reflective writing, content analysis was hired to analysis.

RESULTS

The intervention group's attitude towards death tended to be neutral acceptance. The intervention group's ability to deal with death (Z = -5.354, p < 0.001) and expression of thoughts about death (Z = -3.89 b, p < 0.001) greater than that of the control group. Four themes (Awareness of death before class, Knowledge, The meaning of palliative care, New cognition) were identified from reflecting writing.

CONCLUSION

Compared with the conventional teaching, death education course utilizing constructivist learning theory was found to be a more effective method for developing students' death coping skills and reducing fear of death.

A Countrywide Assessment of Omani Undergraduate Nursing Students' Palliative Care Knowledge and Attitudes Towards End-of-Life Care

Palliative care (PC) is a vital part of the responses needed to address the outcomes of cancer and other non-communicable diseases such as chronic pain, terminal illnesses, and end-of-life situations. Until today, there is a significant lack of access to PC in most developing countries, where the majority of the global population lives. Deficiencies in nurses' knowledge and attitudes exacerbate the lack of access to PC and end-of-life care (EOLC) in these countries. This study was conducted in Oman to assess undergraduate nursing students' (NS) PC knowledge and attitudes towards EOLC. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 276 NS in all undergraduate programs in Oman. The PC knowledge and attitude towards EOLC were measured using the PEACE-Q and FATCOD-B. The NS had a borderline level of PC knowledge but favorable attitudes towards EOLC. The NS were least knowledgeable about the philosophy of PC, delirium, side effects of opioids, cancer pain, and dyspnea. There were differences in PC knowledge and attitudes across programs. The findings highlight potential deficiencies and opportunities that can be utilized to augment future nursing human resources for PC and EOLC in Oman. We recommend a national interdisciplinary PC education and training consortium (NIPCET-C) to dialogue, develop, promote, monitor, and evaluate PC and EOLC education in Oman.

Palliative care stay room - designing, testing and evaluating a gamified social intervention to enhance palliative care awareness

INTRODUCTION

The message of palliative care can be promoted using creative thinking and gamification. It can be an innovative strategy to promote changes in behaviour, promote thinking, and work on skills such as empathy.

AIM

Design, test and evaluate a gamified social intervention to enhance palliative care awareness among young university students from non-health background.

METHODS

Participatory action research study with mixed methods, Design Thinking and using the Public Engagement strategy. Forty-three undergraduate students participated in a Palliative Care Stay Room and completed the Test of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (TECA) before and after the game. At the end of the game, a ten-minute debriefing was held with the participants, which was concluded with an open conversation. The content analysis was done independently and the sum of the scores of each dimension was compared before and after the activity.

FINDINGS

The Stay Room improved the participants' knowledge and new perspectives about palliative care. Before the game, their views focused on the end of life and after the game on their values, highlighting the dedication of the healthcare professionals who do not treat death but the life until death. After de game, participants (N = 43: female = 23; male = 20; x̄ 19.6 years old) presented higher values in perspective adoption (intellectual ability to put oneself in the other's place) p = 0.046 and in emotional understanding (ability to recognize emotional states) p = 0.018, and had high scores on empathic joy (p = 0.08).

CONCLUSION

Gamification can be used in teaching and transmitting positive attitudes. Palliative Care and can help young university students to think positively about care issues.

A meta-analysis of nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about end-of-life care

OBJECTIVES

To synthesize nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about end-of-life care and to identify strategic directions for optimizing end-of-life care education.

DESIGN

A meta-analysis of observational studies.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, CNKI, and WANFANG 8 electronic databases in English and Chinese were systematically searched from inception until 10 April 2022.

REVIEW METHODS

Two reviewers independently screened literature and extracted data using structured tables. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was used to appraise the methodological quality of included studies. The study outcomes were synthesized using a meta-analysis.

RESULTS

26 cross-sectional studies of medium or high quality from 13 countries met the eligibility criteria, involving 9749 nursing students. In our review, nursing students demonstrated insufficient knowledge about end-of-life care, with a pooled mean score of 7.50 (95 % CI: 6.55-8.45); of these, knowledge about philosophy and principles, psychosocial and spiritual care, and pain and symptom management were all deficient, with pooled mean scores of 1.49 (95 % CI: 0.78-2.21), 1.00 (95 % CI: 0.35-1.65), and 3.44 (95 % CI: 2.25-4.63), respectively. Conversely, nursing students showed positive attitudes toward end-of-life care, with a pooled mean score of 102.97 (95 % CI: 99.43-106.51). The subgroup analysis revealed that male nursing students had lower pooled mean scores for end-of-life care knowledge and attitudes.

CONCLUSION

There is a mismatch between nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about end-of-life care, they have a positive attitude but lack the necessary knowledge. Male nursing students seem to have a greater deficit of knowledge and a relatively conservative attitude toward end-of-life care. These findings may provide a significant reference for nursing educators to adjust educational strategies promptly.

Metodologías para la enseñanza de cuidados paliativos en estudiantes de áreas de la salud

Introducción: la necesidad de la enseñanza de los cuidados paliativos a los profesionales de la salud es cada vez más imperante en el mundo y en Latinoamérica. Los educadores deben reconocer los avances para la enseñanza de los cuidados paliativos a través de nuevas formas de aprendizaje. Objetivo: caracterizar las metodologías, contenidos y efectos de la enseñanza del cuidado paliativo en estudiantes del área de la salud en literatura publicada entre los años 2016 y 2020. Métodos: se realizó una revisión de literatura tipo scoping review.Se revisaron artículos publicados en revistas indexadas en las bases de datos Medline, Cuiden, Lilacs, CINAHL durante el periodo 2016-2020 en inglés, español y portugués. Se seleccionaron 25 investigaciones luego de realizar el proceso de crítica de la evidencia. Resultados: los estudios incluidos fueron en su mayoría realizados con metodologías cuantitativas, en Estados Unidos y con poblaciones de estudiantes de enfermería. La información extraída de los artículos se organizó en cuatro temas: 1) cursos educativos en cuidado paliativo, 2) estrategias de simulación, 3) conocimientos en cuidados paliativos de los estudiantes, y 4) actitudes y emociones de los estudiantes ante los cuidados paliativos. Conclusiones: las estrategias encontradas para enseñar los cuidados paliativos incluyen cursos completamente virtuales o en multimodalidad y simulación clínica o en laboratorios. En general, la evidencia muestra el interés que existe por parte de los estudiantes para recibir este tipo de curso y la importancia que tienen en su desarrollo profesional.

Interdisciplinary discussions on palliative care among university students in Spain: giving voice to the social debate

BACKGROUND

University students are the future professionals who will influence society. It is thus essential to improve students' understanding of palliative care (PC), especially those in the non-health field, to generate and encourage propitious opinions about PC. This study describes the perceptions of PC among university students from different disciplines.

METHOD

Qualitative exploratory study using virtual focus groups (FGs) and design thinking (DT) approach. An intentional sample of students from various disciplines, universities and cities from Spain were selected. Numerous researchers from different fields were involved in the discussion of the final thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four themes and seven subthemes were found: i) Students have an ambiguous understanding about PC; ii) PC is not a common issue for non-health students; ii) Students see PC as an important and necessary field; iii) Students build counter-narratives against PC myths, demonstrating PC brings key benefits into people's lives; iv) PC is a synonym of death.

CONCLUSION

Despite the fact that students do not know much about PC, the topic easily arouses reflection and positive discussion. Through the conversations they find positive values and arguments against misunderstand- ing. Students from different disciplines could be the target of innovative educational initia- tives and the social debate on PC.