Running head: ANALYSIS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE OF

Analysis and Implications for Practice of Qualitative Research Report

Analysis and Implications for Practice of Qualitative Research Report Palliative care education is an educational factor that could give education to undergraduate nursing and medical students on how they can be a part of broad management of the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual, needs of patients. Palliative care education is needed especially for those who will be involved in caring for patients who are terminally ill to assist them to obtain the best quality of life possible by providing relief of pain and suffering, controlling symptoms, and reinstating functional capacity. Nurse educators have recognized that traditionally nurses have not been well prepared in caring for dying patients. Research also has acknowledged that nursing students have nervousness about dealing with death and dying. Many aspects have been recognized as influencing nurses’, nursing students’, and medical students’ feelings towards caring for the ill. Providing palliative care to dying, elderly patients will always be a challenge for healthcare providers. In 2009, Germany implemented palliative care as an essential part of medical curriculum. In many western countries, the number of patients with multimorbidity is increasing which makes it difficult to care for them. As recognized by the ministry of health and health experts, teaching palliative care of the elderly to the medical and nursing students can improve care. In this study, an interdisciplinary curriculum was studied and created which focused on the palliative care needs of the elderly.
This research exemplifies the developmental process of a course of study on alleviant care needs of the elderly. It emphasizes the investigation for significant learning objectives as this information may be provided to encourage other course of study developers in the process of contriving similar course of studies. In many countries, the number of people in the age group of 60 and older is growing more rapidly than any other age group. Therefore, the palliative care for the elderly would always remain as a challenge. Several factors complicate the provision of excellent palliative care to the old patients. Many of these factors include multiple medical problems as well as dementia, ill-health, and many other aspects of disability. Since health care for these senior patients is provided mostly by nurses and doctors, it is important to teach palliative and geriatric care to medical and nursing students in order to improve the care given to these patients.
By doing research on literature and obtaining opinions from experts, significant learning objectives for a curriculum were recognized. Theoretical screening was done to all publications used for the research. Data was collected by two independent researchers who performed it individually and were compared after. The publications that described the curriculum of the undergrad palliative care were entered in the data collection process. Data was recorded using a standardized sheet.
Consequences of this study bespeak that education can have a positive consequence on nursing students' attitudes toward care of the dying. Needs for education on alleviant care is acknowledged on a national degree, for instance by the German authorities as well as on an international degree by the WHO. To improve the level of care, it is essential for students to be educated about the palliative care for the elderly, most preferably if it is done in an interprofessional way.
Throughout history, nurses have cared for the dying. The founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, recruited women during the Crimean War, to be trained and serve as nurses to the sick and dying soldiers. Since that time, nurses have been caring for the dying Nightingale viewed her career with the dying as fulfilling her duty that was assigned by God. Her patients received high quality care, taking into consideration, their physical and spiritual needs. Today’s nurses do not always have the passion to see their care for the dying as an assignment from God. According to several researchers, dealing with death is a difficult task for many nurses and nursing students. The evolution of nursing education has not been on track with the needs of the patients who are seeking quality care in their end of life. According to the International Council of Nurses, nurses have an important responsibility for making sure that their patients go through a peaceful death. Most of the time, the end-of-life care that is given by new nursing graduates, is insufficient and is not successful in accomplishing therapeutic effect. For many nurses, giving end-of-life care is very difficult because of personal issues concerning the process of death. Most schools of nursing have modified their curricula by adding the end-of-life material, due to the increasing emphasis of end-of-life care in the United States as well as other countries around the world. The development in population makes it difficult to take care of dying elderly patients. So therefore, all medical and nursing professionals need to be prepared to face this challenge. Participating in a curriculum that helps students obtain knowledge about providing care for elderly patients will help them face the task during their medical and nursing career. It is essential for the educators to evaluate the nursing students’ feelings toward palliative care before educating them in order to be sure that the program would be influential to the students. As nursing education is advancing to apply end-of-life education, it is essential that the education helps students incorporate the modifications in their attitude into their nursing practice. Even though it is clear from research that palliative care education is essential for nursing and medical students, more research needs to be performed to support the long-term outcomes of the educational aspect in alleviant care. “By assessing the long-term effects of an educational component in palliative care, inferences can be made about the effectiveness of the one-time educational component. If it is found that positive attitudes toward care of the dying diminish over time, then educators need to look at an integrated curriculum that introduces the topic repeatedly throughout the program ( ).”