WHAT DO TURKISH NURSING STUDENTS THINK ABOUT PALLIATIVE CARE

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify Turkish nursing students’ thoughts and attitudes about palliative care . Methods: This is a descriptive survey study that was conducted in Ankara, Turkey with nursing students during between 2015 and 2016. In order to obtain the broadest viewpoint, we decided to survey 163 nursing students, including 77 juniors and 86 seniors. The data was collected using an “Opinion Forms on Palliative Care” as well as a demographic form.   Results: 136 out of a total of 163 junior and senior students were included in this study.  Most of the students practiced general medicine, surgery and ICU, and described palliative care as a multidisciplinary health service for terminally ill patients with cancer. Although 89.7% of students had received some degree of palliative care training as part of their education, most of them (66.2%) had felt that it was insufficient. Palliative care topics that students wished were included as part of the curriculum included the basic concepts of palliative care (94.9%), communication (91.9%), legal and ethical issues (89.7%), loss and bereavement (89%), and symptom management (86%). Most students ( 77.9-76.5% ) stated that palliative care training ought to be a mandatory training program.  Conclusion:  Nursing students who have heard about the concept of palliative care during their education thought that the content of the palliative care education was lacking within their nursing program. Also, most had felt that this specialized content ought to be expanded upon as part of specialization training.  Keywords:  Palliative care, nursing education, undergraduate, student experience Oz Amac: Bu calismanin amaci, Turk hemsirelik ogrencilerinin palyatif bakim konusundaki dusunce ve tutumlarinin belirlenmesidir. Yontemler: Bu arastirma Turkiye, Ankara'da hemsirelik ogrencileriyle birlikte 2015 - 2016 yillari arasinda gerceklestirilen tanimlayici bir anket calismasidir. En genis bakis acisini elde etmek icin 77 ikinci-ucuncu sinif ve 86 son sinif hemsirelik ogrencisi toplam 163 ogrenci arastirmaya dahil edilmistir. Veriler, “palyatif bakim konusundaki gorus formlari” ve demografik form kullanilarak toplanmistir. Bulgular: Calismaya toplam 163 ogrenciden 136 hemsirelik ogrencisi dahil edilmistir. Ogrencilerin cogu dahiliye, cerrahi ve yogun bakimlarda staj yapmislardir ve palyatif bakimi; kanserli hastalar icin multidisipliner bir saglik hizmeti olarak tanimlamislardir. Ogrencilerin %89.7'si egitimlerinin bir parcasi olarak bir dereceye kadar palyatif bakim egitimi almis olmasina ragmen, cogu (% 66.2) bunun yetersiz oldugunu belirtmislerdir. Ogrencilerin mufredatin bir parcasi olarak dahil edilmesini istedikleri palyatif bakim konularinin basinda; palyatif bakimin temel kavramlari (% 94.9), iletisim (% 91.9), yasal ve etik konular (% 89.7), kayip ve yas sureci (% 89) ve semptom yonetimi (% 86) gelmektedir. Ogrencilerin cogu (% 77.9-76.5) palyatif bakim egitiminin zorunlu bir egitim programi olmasi gerektigini belirtmislerdir. Sonuc: Egitiminde palyatif bakim kavramini duyan hemsirelik ogrencileri, palyatif bakim egitiminin iceriginin hemsirelik programinda eksik oldugunu dusunmektedir. Ayrica cogu, bu ozel icerigin uzmanlik egitiminin bir parcasi olarak genisletilmesi gerektigini dusunmustur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Palyatif bakim, hemsirelik egitimi, lisans, ogrenci deneyimi