Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Stephanie Johnson, Nursing; Dr. Melissa Bouws, Nursing

Document Type

Poster

Event Date

4-17-2026

Abstract

Undergraduate nursing students and new graduate nurses frequently report feeling underprepared and uncomfortable when caring for actively dying patients. The purpose of this study was to identify potential gaps in the current curriculum and assess what improvements were needed to better prepare students. Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory highlights the importance of providing holistic and self care needs when patients are not able to do it themselves. A cross-sectional, quality improvement design was utilized. A 17 item Likert-scale survey was administered to investigate the level of confidence that participants have when caring for actively dying patients. Senior level nursing students and recent nursing graduates (2024-2025) from a liberal arts college in the midwest were recruited via email. Using SPSS software for data analysis, it was discovered that a total of 6 out of 17 survey questions had a mean less than 3, indicating low confidence in those aspects of end-of-life care. An independent t-test was run comparing the ability to perform post-mortem care and nursing students and new graduates, and there was no significant relationship (p-value 0.415). There was a significant relationship between previous experience with actively dying patients and interpreting and explaining end-of-life assessment findings (p-value 0.020). It was concluded that there is a lack of overall confidence based on all of the survey questions having a mean score of less than 4. It was also evident that there is a gap in curriculum regarding end-of-life care, prohibiting students from feeling confident in their abilities. The small sample, single data collection site, and cross-sectional nature of the study limits the generalizability of findings. The methodology of this study limits validity due to response bias. Through the assessment of confidence, the gaps in current curriculum can be identified and education changes can be made to improve confidence.

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