Measuring new graduate nurses' attitudes toward death and caring for the dying and their undergraduate preparation.

Abstract

Background: Nurses and nursing students who have received theoretical and practical training are more likely to provide effective end-of-life care to dying patients and their family members.

Aims: This descriptive study investigated the effect of end-of-life care efficacy on new graduate nurses' attitudes toward death and the care of the dying.

Methods: The study was conducted between July 14, 2021 and May 15, 2022. The sample consisted of 245 nurses who graduated from a nursing school between 2015 and 2020. Participants were contacted through email or phone. Data were collected using a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, an end-of-life care characteristics questionnaire, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised and the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale. Numbers and percentages were used for descriptive data. The data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U Test and Kruskal-Wallis Test.

Findings: More than half of the new graduate nurses believed that they knew enough about end-of-life care (59.3%). New graduate nurses who had not taken a course on end-of-life care before had a higher fear of death than those who had. New graduate nurses noted that nursing educators had not supported or guided them adequately in their student years.

Conclusion: Further research is warranted to better understand new graduate nurses' attitudes toward death and the care of the dying. Universities should integrate end-of-life care into curricula. Nursing educators should better support and guide their students.