Perceptions and attitudes of Nursing students towards end-of-life care: a Phenomenological Study at a tertiary hospital in Uganda.

Abstract

Introduction: Clinical practice is an important part of nursing education as it helps nursing students transition into competent health professionals who can provide quality services. However, research studies convey it as a significant stressor for nursing students when they are obliged to end of life during clinical practice. The perceptions of nursing students on caring for end-of-life care have not been exhaustively studied in the Ugandan context. This study was conducted to understand nursing students' perceptions of end-of-life care during clinical practice at Mulago Hospital. Methods It was a qualitative study with a phenomenology method carried out among 15 nursing students from Makerere University who were assigned to Mulago Hospital for clinical practice. Data was gathered using an in-depth interview guide, audio was captured, and transcriptions were analyzed thematically using Atlas.ti version 6. Results Three main themes emerged from the data; two themes on perceptions were (i) reactions when nursing students were informed about the physical process of caring for dying patients and (ii) how student ideas about the care changed during the process of caring for end-of-life. The third theme was the attitude of students towards patients when offering end of life care. participants described their reactions as chaotic, devastated and scared about their first-time encounter with caring for dying patients, the physical process also required preparation to handle the situation and understanding, and for positive personal values felt respected, appreciated, trusted and valued when informed about the physical process of caring for the end-of-life Conclusion : In this study, nursing students held divisive attitudes on care for dying patients. However, nursing students appear to transition from unfavorable impressions of the process and encounter of caring for dying patients to positive perceptions during the actual caregiving experience. Despite their differing perspectives on caring for dying patients, students were typically empathic towards them.