Predicting infant apgar scores

Comparison of Death Attitudes among Hospice Workers and Health Care Professionals in other Settings

Since most health care professionals are trained in acute care settings where all efforts are employed to prolong life, they may not be comfortable caring for dying patients. Hospice professionals have a lot of experience dealing with dying patients. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the death attitudes of hospice and hospital-based health care professionals. The construct theory for the study was that comfort in dealing with dying patients is based on 1) personal beliefs about death and 2) experience dealing with dying patients. Seventy-six hospital and 106 hospice workers participated in the study and completed the thirty-four-item Death Attitude Index (DAI) and the fifteen-item Death Anxiety Scale [1]. The results showed that hospice employees had higher DAI scores (greater comfort caring for the terminally ill), as predicted. Social workers had the highest mean DAI scores and the lowest scores on the DAS (low death anxiety). Nurses aides exhibited high death anxiety and low comfort in dealing with terminal clients. For all disciplines, DAI and DAS scores were highly correlated (coefficient = −0.91). Independent variables that correlated with high DAI scores were educational level and a sacred (versus secular) value system.

Palliative and curative care nurses' attitudes toward dying and death in the hospital setting

This study tested the hypothesis that nurses' attitudes toward caring for the dying would be systematically related to the type of nursing unit in which they work. The competing hypothesis suggested that it may not be the structural variable of work setting, but the nurse's experience and, possibly, learned ability to cope with problems surrounding the care of the dying. The major finding was that work setting is a more significant force in shaping attitudes than is experience. The results suggest that nurses working in a curative setting, such as surgery or pediatrics, cannot easily escape the saliency of their unit's curative orientation and sentiment order.

Effectiveness of a Death-Education Program in Reducing Death Anxiety of Nursing Students

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a death education program in reducing death anxiety experienced by nursing students. Twenty-two junior and thirty-two senior baccalaureate nursing students in a private sectarian liberal arts college were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. All participants were pre- and posttested with the State Form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory following the viewing of a film depicting a death experience. Posttest analysis indicated that the death education program was effective in decreasing the death anxiety of some of the seniors, but it had an opposite effect on some of the juniors. This discrepancy in findings could result from the fact that seniors had prior supervised clinical experience with dying patients, and juniors did not have this experience.

Enhancement of Death Acceptance by a Grief Counseling Course

The impact of a grief counseling course was investigated in terms of Klug and Sinha's two-component formulation of death acceptance [1]. Compared to a control group, participants in the course showed a significant and sustained increase in cognitive confrontation of death, and in the assimilation of these attitudes at an emotional level. Identified predictors of the extent of the effect include the individual's initial level of death acceptance and performance in two of three aspects of course assessment.

The effects of death education on nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their families

This study sought to determine the effectiveness of an education program on nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their family members. The program, based on the hospice concept of care, included a didactic section based on Kubler-Ross' stages of death and dying, and a role-play model designed by the researcher. Data were collected from 34 licensed nurses, aged 18 to 65, practicing in the midwestern United States. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) was designed by the researcher to assess nurses' attitudes. The FATCOD was found to be a valid and reliable tool. All nurses completed the tool before and after the education program (pre-test, post-test). Compared by a t-test, the scores for the nurses were significantly higher after participation in the educational program. The t-value was found to be 2.97, significant at the less than 0.01 level, 2-tailed probability = 0.006. These findings support the hypothesis that nurses have a more positive attitude toward caring for terminally ill persons and their family members after participation in the program, than the same nurses had before participating in the program. Demographic information including age, years of experience in nursing, highest degree held, basic type of nursing preparation and previous education on death and dying were analyzed to determine their relationship to the nurses' attitudes. The only information which demonstrated any significant relationship to the nurses' attitudes was that of previous education on death and dying. These were computed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) F = 3.22, F prob = 0.04, significant at less than 0.05 level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The dying patient: a comparative study of nurse caregiver characteristics

The nurse's interaction with the dying patient is thought to be influenced by death anxiety, attitudes toward death, and perceptions of control. Differences relative to these three variables between nurses who work on a continuous basis with the dying and those who rarely encounter a dying patient were examined. Using 3 paper and pencil questionnaires, data were collected from 105 nurses (32 palliative care nurses, 44 psychiatric nurses, 29 orthopedic nurses). Significant differences were found between the palliative care nurses and nonpalliative care nurses on attitudes toward death and on 3 of the 4 subscales that assessed death anxiety. Suggestions for future research include a systematic examination of the relationship of attitudes and feelings about death to patient care.

The effects of a course on death and grief on nurses' attitudes toward dying patients and death

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of a course on death and grief on the attitudes toward death and toward dying patients of nurses who work in high-risk death areas of hospitals. This quasi-experimental design used four groups of subjects. One group experienced the treatment. Another group served as a waiting-list control group and then experienced the treatment. Two groups were control groups. The treatment consisted of attendance at a 6-week continuing education course entitled "Coping with Death and Dying in High-risk Areas of Hospitals." The Death Anxiety Semantic Differential, Parts I and II, was used as the dependent variable. The results indicate that the small-group counseling and education experience did have an impact on attitudes toward death and dying patients of nurses who attended. The discussion of the findings and recommendations for further study are presented.

The availability of education on death and dying: a survey of U.S. nursing schools

A stratified random sample of 226 U.S. nursing schools was surveyed to determine the extent and nature of current death education training for nursing students. Of the 205 responding schools, 5 percent reported offering a required death and dying course, while an additional 39.5 percent indicated that a death and dying course was available for their students on an elective basis. The authors challenge the current pedagogical approach toward death education in U.S. nursing schools. They propose the need for the development of a model that would formally link a death education course, or courses, with the clinical phase of training. It is hypothesized that such an approach would enhance the nursing students' recognition and management of their feelings regarding death and dying and therefore result in more effective means of relating to terminally ill patients.