Abstract
Nursing students, and many practicing nurses, lack self-efficacy and competence in
providing quality end-of-life care. Nursing programs are frequently unable to provide
opportunities to participate in end-of-life nursing care in the traditional clinical
setting, despite evidence that experiential learning enhances student attitudes about
death and increases self-efficacy and competency levels. The authors describe a simulated
clinical experience using high-fidelity patient simulation in an undergraduate nursing
elective to facilitate application of theory content to a clinical end-of-life scenario.
Themes identified in participant evaluations, including impact of family presence,
value of realism (fidelity), and self-efficacy, are explored.
Keywords
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References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2004). Peaceful death: Recommended competencies and curricular guidelines for end-of-life nursing care. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Publications/deathfin.htm
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 04, 2009
Footnotes
Cite this article: Leighton, K., & Dubas, J. (2009, NOVEMBER). Simulated death: An innovative approach to teaching end-of-life care. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, VOL(5). Doi: 10.1016/j.ecns.2009.04.093.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
