The relationship between death anxiety and attitudes toward the care of dying patient in nursing students

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn order to provide dying individuals with the necessary care, firstly nurses and nursing students should be aware of their own emotions regarding death. The aim of this research is to determine the relationship between death anxiety and attitudes toward the care of dying patient in nursing students. This study planned as a descriptive was carried out 376 students who were educated in the first, second, third and fourth grades of the nursing department of faculty of health sciences of a university in Turkey. Data were collected with ‘Death Anxiety Scale’ and ‘Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD-Form B)’. The students’ mean score on the death anxiety scale was 32.98 ± 15.01 and their mean score on the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale was 105.09 ± 9.42. The level of death anxiety is different in gender and the classes. Also, it is inversely related to the attitude toward the care of the dying patients. It is important to reduce death anxiety in order to increase positive attitudes toward the care of the dying patient.