Integration of end of life concepts into the curriculum of an Associate of Science in nursing program

End of life (EOL) education is missing or deficient among nursing curricula across the United States. Nursing educators have debated over the most effective teaching modality to implement EOL concepts among nursing curricula with little consensus. Since 2000, the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project has striven to improve EOL education and promote an effective means of integrating EOL concepts into nursing education. In 2017, the ELNEC project released the first undergraduate nursing curriculum focused on primary palliative care, which includes EOL care, called ELNEC-Undergraduate. The purpose of the study was to determine if implementing the ELNEC-Undergraduate online learning modules improved student knowledge with respect to EOL care concepts. This study took place in an Associate of Science in Nursing program with forty-nine students participating in the study during their final nursing semester before graduation. This study implemented a quantitative methodology utilizing a pretest/posttest design to measure student knowledge of EOL concepts prior to and after the implementation of the ELNEC-Undergraduate curriculum. The Undergraduate Nursing Palliative Care Knowledge Survey was employed as an evaluative instrument to measure knowledge of EOL care. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to compare pretest and posttest scores of the cohort as well as within the studies constructs. Simple, multiple, and hierarchical linear regressions were employed to analyze student demographics as well as pre-existing experiences’ effect on student knowledge with respect to EOL care. Demographics and pre-existing experiences did not significantly affect student knowledge with respect to EOL care. However, the study results indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in student knowledge after the implementation of the ELNEC-Undergraduate curriculum.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Alabama Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Harwell, Jennifer H.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Wright, Vivian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Graves, Ann
• Lippe, Megan
• Montgomery, Michele
• Tomlinson, Stephen

• Nursing
• Educational leadership

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US, English

Dc Identifier Other

u0015_0000001_0003474
Harwell_alatus_0004D_13927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ir.ua.edu:123456789/6531