Keywords

end-of-life care, entry-level nursing students, simulation, teaching strategy

 

Authors

  1. Twigg, Regina Donovan DNP, RN
  2. Lynn, Megan Cecere MS, MBA, RN

Abstract

Abstract: Nursing educators must ensure that nursing students have basic competency in providing end-of-life care prior to licensure. Despite this requirement, many nursing schools do little to ensure that nursing students are prepared to provide care to a dying patient. Considering the complex nature of end-of-life care, students need to have competence in all 3 domains of learning to provide end-of-life care. Simulation has been identified as a potential teaching strategy for teaching this content. A single-group pre-experimental design was deployed to evaluate the impact of a hybrid simulation experience on a student's knowledge and emotional readiness to provide care for a dying patient. Students reported a higher level of stress for providing care to a patient after the simulation experience. This may be due to students having limited exposure to this content during their nursing education. Because of the complexities of providing care to a patient at end of life, nursing educators need to ensure they sufficiently cover this content in nursing curricula while ensuring students are competent in providing end-of-life care.