Reducing Death Anxiety in the Student Nurse Population to Improve Patient Care

Presentation Type

Poster/Portfolio

Presenter Major(s)

Nursing

Mentor Information

Joy Washburn, washburj@gvsu.edu

Department

Kirkhof College of Nursing

Location

Kirkhof Center KC53

Start Date

13-4-2011 4:00 PM

End Date

13-4-2011 5:00 PM

Keywords

Death and Dying

Abstract

It is not uncommon for a nurse to be assigned to care for a patient who is dying. However, many collegiate nursing curriculums lack end-of-life course content and students continue to express fear and anxiety towards caring for a dying patient. This fear is multifaceted and is strongly influenced by the individual's fears about their own mortality. This project seeks to reduce death anxiety as expressed by student nurses, thus allowing them to provide a higher quality of care. An extensive literature review has revealed that debriefing with a mentor may be one of the best interventions to help student nurses cope with the death of a patient. However, self reflection exercises focused on personal attitudes towards death and personal expectations for care at the end of life may also be helpful in reducing anxiety. Incorporating similar end-of-life concepts into all courses throughout collegiate nursing curriculums could better prepare students for end-of-life patient care.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Apr 13th, 4:00 PM Apr 13th, 5:00 PM

Reducing Death Anxiety in the Student Nurse Population to Improve Patient Care

Kirkhof Center KC53

It is not uncommon for a nurse to be assigned to care for a patient who is dying. However, many collegiate nursing curriculums lack end-of-life course content and students continue to express fear and anxiety towards caring for a dying patient. This fear is multifaceted and is strongly influenced by the individual's fears about their own mortality. This project seeks to reduce death anxiety as expressed by student nurses, thus allowing them to provide a higher quality of care. An extensive literature review has revealed that debriefing with a mentor may be one of the best interventions to help student nurses cope with the death of a patient. However, self reflection exercises focused on personal attitudes towards death and personal expectations for care at the end of life may also be helpful in reducing anxiety. Incorporating similar end-of-life concepts into all courses throughout collegiate nursing curriculums could better prepare students for end-of-life patient care.