Nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a palliative and end-of-life care simulation programme: A qualitative study

1. Introduction

It provides a basis for professionals in the health sector, especially those involved in palliative care for instance; documentarians, policy makers and care providers in shaping the research and evaluation agendas by aligning them to the objectives of introducing innovative interventions in palliative care practices for instance machine learning and big data analyses in palliative care. It also provides a groundbreaking foundation for understandings of what are some recommendations and objectives in modern palliative care practices. For instance the exploitation and integration of technology in the advancement of palliative care. And for future patients who are undergoing through palliative care, diverse and patient-centred practices in palliative care can be derived from such innovative education studies.

This shows that methods and practices in palliative and end-of-life care evolve quickly and it remains a vibrant research area. By exploring nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a palliative and end-of-life care simulation programme, this study offers valuable information for the development of palliative and end-of-life care education in nursing. This is particularly relevant or essential for educators and teachers teaching in the area of pre-registration nursing programmes with a special focus in learners centred innovative approaches. An understanding of how to introduce students to palliative care and how to help them grow in their knowledge as they progress through the course is substantial in informing and solidifying the foundation of the pedagogical principles in the draft and review of curricula in palliative care.

As there is an increase in the available student placements in palliative care conferences, there has been a significant contribution in medical education research. There is good theoretical background on the importance of palliative care teaching in medical education. However, there seems to be a lack of quality research to give good scientific backbone of the importance of adequate foundational studies and practices in palliative care. This is compounded by the fact that it is generally acknowledged that in order to facilitate excellence in palliative medicine among medical students and doctors that strategic interventional measures have to be implemented. These include the introduction of formal palliative care within medical students, initiation of well coordinated faculty development interventions designed to provide insight and knowledge into palliative care concepts, creating more practical work and case studies to help students familiarize with theoretical knowledge obtained in the classes and promotion of advances in palliative care research and practices within the curriculum.

The study on nursing students is concerned with a bachelor’s degree in Connecticut that focuses on holistic nursing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a palliative and end-of-life care simulation programme. There is evidence to demonstrate how innovative and student-centred approaches to teaching and learning in palliative care have been encouraged in medical education. There is a revelation that little standardized teaching of palliative care and medical schools. Palliative Medicine is one of the weaker areas in the undergraduate medical curriculum. The majority of the studies reviewed relate to undergraduate doctors.

Palliative and end-of-life care education is an important aspect of nursing and healthcare curricula. Enhanced emphasis has been placed on this area of study with the view that preparatory education of nurses can provide a stable ground in terms of a positive and more embracing approach towards the care of the patients who are undergoing through palliative and end-of-life experiences. This is the background under which the study was carried out.

1.1. Background

Palliative care forms an integral part of contemporary nursing practice, and it is vital that student nurses have the opportunity to develop the necessary skills and competences to provide quality care to patients and their families. In the United Kingdom, the End of Life Care Strategy (Department of Health, 2008) has recognised that there is a need for healthcare professionals to be better prepared in delivering end of life care. As such, there has been a move towards educating nurses in palliative and end-of-life care using a variety of pedagogic strategies. Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing use of simulated teaching and learning experiences in nursing curricula (Cant & Cooper, 2010). The rationale for using simulation is well documented. For instance, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (2011) in the US asserts that high quality simulation activities allow for consistent exposure and practice of specific nursing interventions commonly used in the care of patients, and that increased time in simulations can enhance students’ clinical judgment and critical thinking. It is, however, only recently in the United Kingdom that its potential for enhancing students’ learning within the field of palliative care has been realised and explored by researchers (e.g., Cooper, Havery & Cant, 2012). At present, there is limited published empirical evidence to suggest that nursing students enrolled on palliative care related modules/course are actually benefiting from the engagement in simulated learning in terms of applying theory to practice and gaining in personal self-efficacy. Moreover, there is even less evidence to suggest particular elements within a simulation learning experience that may be influential in helping students to bridge the gap between theory learnt in the classroom and practice learnt in the real world. The study aimed to explore nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a university based, palliative and end-of-life care focused, simulated teaching session. The research question was: What are the nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a university based, palliative and end-of-life care focused, simulated teaching session? Given the limited quantity of contemporary published work on this specific subject in the UK, it was considered that the use of a qualitative method would enable a greater depth of exploration into the lived experiences of the students, as it allows for rich, detailed and contextualised accounts of the research questions (Holloway & Wheately, 2002). Also, the use of a qualitative approach aligns with the study’s aim to describe and interpret the student’s perspective of the simulated learning experience (Streubert & Carpenter, 2011). The literature available would suggest that this is a relatively novel area of research; in other countries where simulation in palliative and end of life care has been explored, it has more commonly focused on the experience and needs of healthcare professionals already in practice, such as nurses (e.g., Stillwagon, Ruggiano & Rutkowski, 2013). However, at present, little is known about how students in the UK perceive their learning experiences from such activities, and how it may be shaping their future attitudes, knowledge and skills in the delivery of palliative and end of life care.

1.2. Purpose of the study

The primary purpose of this qualitative study is to explore nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a palliative and end-of-life care simulation programme by using the qualitative research method. Palliative and end-of-life care is support that is given to patients and their families when a patient is nearing end of life, whereas palliative care mainly focuses on the relief of pain and other debilitating symptoms with the view to improving the quality of life rather than cure, while end of life care is the last part of the journey of life. Palliative and end-of-life care education is considered an important part in the pre-registration nursing curriculum because a better understanding in palliative care not only can enhance the care qualities for those who are dying but also for future patients (Gibbins et al., 2011). Simulation in nursing education has been introduced into the curriculum over the past few years and the School of Nursing in the study university is one of the institutes that have made a substantial amount of investment in this area. In the academic year of 2013/14, 2014/15, as well as the coming year of 2015/16, all nursing students have been arranged to undergo a new 6-hour simulation, which is a palliative and end-of-life care event in a community centre in Hong Kong. However, what are the students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in this programme are still unknown. This qualitative study helps to answer and fill this gap of knowledge. With a deeper understanding of the learning experiences through the eyes of the students, teaching strategies and activities can be further developed in facilitating student learning in palliative and end-of-life care. Hence, it will improve the qualities of the palliative and end-of-life care programme and students’ learning experiences. As for the students, they will be more ready to face challenges of real life as a qualified nurse. Last but not least, both students and teachers can be more confident in managing end-of-life situations in the future (with Riley, 2010).

2. Literature Review

2.1. Palliative and end-of-life care education

2.2. Simulation-based learning in nursing education

2.3. Previous research on nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences

3. Methodology

3.1. Study design

3.2. Participants

3.3. Data collection

3.4. Data analysis

4. Results

4.1. Themes identified in nursing students’ perspectives

4.1.1. Increased understanding of palliative and end-of-life care

4.1.2. Emotional impact of the simulation programme

4.1.3. Development of communication skills

4.2. Themes identified in nursing students’ learning experiences

4.2.1. Application of theoretical knowledge

4.2.2. Confidence in providing palliative and end-of-life care

4.2.3. Teamwork and collaboration

5. Discussion

5.1. Comparison with previous research

5.2. Implications for nursing education

5.3. Limitations of the study

6. Conclusion

6.1. Summary of findings

6.2. Recommendations for future research

Nursing students’ perspectives and learning experiences of participating in a palliative and end-of-life care simulation programme: A qualitative study

^{"Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, guaranteeing you "A" results."}