Qualitative Exploration of the Perceptions of Nursing Undergraduates Regarding Family Care at End-of-Life

Background/Purpose: Family care at end-of-life is delivered by nurses and includes communication and explanations, providing emotional support for the family, creating an environment in which death occurs with dignity, providing privacy, facilitating visitation, and honoring and meeting cultural and personal family values (Beckstrand et al., 2011; Bloomer et al., 2013; Cronin et al., 2015; Heidari & Norouzadeh, 2014). There appears to be a gap in the empirical evidence and literature on this topic. Regarding the knowledge and comfort of student nurses, and subsequently nurses, in family care at the end-of-life, there is disparity. To determine what must be taught to nursing students, there must first be a needs assessment. The purpose of this study is to investigate what nursing students perceive their needs, challenges, and facilitators to providing competent family care at end-of-life. Theoretical framework: Mezirow’s transformative learning theory was the framework for this study (Kitchenham, 2008). The theory is used as a method for behavior change. Results provided information needed to explore new content and options for nursing education regarding care of families of dying patients. Method: This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Focus groups were used to interview 19 junior and senior nursing students who were currently in acute care clinical courses. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Four themes emerged from the data: feeling unprepared, importance of communication, experience increases comfort and confidence, and families’ emotional responses can be challenging. Conclusions: This study supports previous findings that students do not feel prepared to provide family care at end-of-life. All nurses need to know the basics of providing family care at end-of-life. This study supported that students prefer experiential learning methods, such as simulation and role playing. This study also demonstrates that nursing faculty should also be knowledgeable and comfortable with family care at end-of-life

Nursing Student Perceptions Regarding Simulation Experience Sequencing

BACKGROUND: The use of simulated learning experiences (SLEs) have increased within nursing curricula with positive learning outcomes for nursing students. The purpose of this study is to explore nursing students\u27 perceptions of their clinical decision making (CDM) related to the block sequencing of different patient care experiences, SLEs versus hospital-based learning experiences (HLEs). METHOD: A qualitative descriptive design used open-ended survey questions to generate information about the block sequencing of SLEs and its impact on nursing students\u27 perceived CDM. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from the data: Preexperience Anxiety, Real-Time Decision Making, and Increased Patient Care Experiences. CONCLUSION: Nursing students identified that having SLEs prior to HLEs provided several benefits. Even when students preferred SLEs prior to HLEs, the sequence did not impact their CDM. This suggests that alternating block sequencing can be used without impacting the students\u27 perceptions of their ability to make decisions

Using Clinical Instructor Perceptions to Improve a Pilot Simulation Course

Little is known about clinical instructors’ perceptions of student decision-making in relation to the block sequencing of simulation and traditional clinical experiences. Focus groups were conducted with 12 clinical instructors. Three common threads emerged from the data: right away, anxious but more confident, and scary and unsafe. Instructors noted that the more patient care experiences encountered, the more students developed efficient clinical decision-making skills. Major safety concerns regarding medication administration were identified, resulting in additional safety parameters instituted in the simulated environment

Innovation in Clinical Course Delivery and Impact on Students’ Clinical Decision-Making and Competence

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in clinical decision-making and clinical competence between two different cohorts of graduating baccalaureate nursing students from a traditional prelicensure program in the United States. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare students who had substituted their traditional medical-surgical clinical experiences with simulation (Cohort 1, n = 35) with students who had supplementary simulation in addition to their traditional clinical experiences (Cohort 2, n = 36). The findings demonstrated that when simulationwas used as a supplement to traditional clinical experiences, participants performed better patient assessments