Date Available

5-6-2021

Year of Publication

2021

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Committee Chair

Dr. Melanie Hardin-Pierce

Clinical Mentor

Debra Gleason

Committee Member

Dr. Karen Butler

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this project is to implement a palliative care education intervention with a pre- and post-survey to assess knowledge, emotional preparedness, and confidence in undergraduate nursing students at the University of Kentucky.

Aim: The aim of this project is to address the gap in palliative care education by increasing professional knowledge, emotional preparedness, and confidence levels in regards to palliative care of future nurses at the University of Kentucky.

Background: The terms “hospice” and “palliative” are often used interchangeably in the healthcare setting. However, palliative care focuses on symptom management in all stages of acute, chronic, or terminal illness. About 40 million people per year can benefit from the use of palliative services. However, healthcare professionals are not receiving palliative care education in their training curriculum.

Design: This is a one group quasi-experimental study. A pre- and post-survey design was used to measure effectiveness of the educational intervention. Participation of undergraduate nursing students was solely voluntary.

Method: The surveys were created in REDcap. Once students completed the pre-survey, self-guided online intervention, and post-survey, data was entered into SPSS for analysis. An unpaired t-test was used to compare total scores of the survey, as well as the subcategories of education, confidence and emotional preparedness.

Conclusion: Nurse burnout and moral exhaustion is decreased when gaps in care are addressed, such as education in palliative care. This project showed an improvement in palliative care knowledge, confidence, and emotional preparedness. This helps nurses determine the appropriate method of care and understand the various options that benefit a discrete patient population.

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