Getting end-of-life education right for children’s nursing students

Innovative end-of-life care workshops were introduced to children’s nursing students to examine death anxiety and how perceptions and previous experiences may impact the care they provide.

Abstract

This article describes a new, innovative workshop approach used to teach children’s nursing students end-of-life care for a child or young person and their family. Aiming to demonstrate the importance of paediatric palliative care principles during and after the end of a child’s life, it incorporates the essentiality of students looking at their own life and death, and how their perceptions and previous experiences may affect the care they provide. Death anxiety is a very real concept for many students and existing nurses. This workshop could be adapted and taught interprofessionally at pre-registration and postgraduate levels or as part of continuing professional development.

Citation: McNee D, Beckett H (2024) Getting end-of-life education right for children’s nursing students. Nursing Times [online]; 120: 3.

Authors: Deb McNee is lecturer, children’s nursing; Helen Beckett is senior lecturer, children’s nursing; both at Swansea University.