CN92 - Nursing students’ attitude towards care of dying: A cross-sectional study in Italy

Background

Palliative care is considered an approach to improving the quality of life of patients with terminal illness and their familiars and the nurse is the largest group of healthcare professionals involved in palliative care. Nursing education plays an important role in preparing future nurses to provide palliative care to patients at the end of their lives. The aim of the study was to explore nursing students’ attitudes towards the care of dying patients.

Methods

We conduct a cross-sectional study in Nursing program at the University of Padua (Italy). We administered the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale form B (FATCOD-B) and demographic form to 445 third-year nursing students, who accepted to participate in the study, in 2022. This Nursing program has eight different places.

Results

The sample of the study consists of 228 students (48%). Respondents reported a median age of 22 years (range 20-43), the most respondents were female (189-83%). Most students attended a course on care of dying (151- 66%). Median total FATCOD-B scores (118.65) indicated intermediated levels of students’ attitudes towards care for dying patients. There was no significant difference between the FATCOD-B score between nursing students who attended a course on palliative care and who did not attend the course (118.47 vs 119.10; p=.688).

Conclusions

This study showed that nursing students have an intermediated level of attitude toward care of dying and end-of-life care. Nurses can meet cancer patients in all hospital settings, so the development of professional skills towards the dying patient is essential. The questionnaire used could be used as a tool to identify the gaps present and to program the university’s educational activity in the field of palliative care.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

M. Veronese.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.