This study sought to determine the effectiveness of an education program on nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their family members. The program, based on the hospice concept of care, included a didactic section based on Kubler-Ross' stages of death and dying, and a role-play model designed by the researcher. Data were collected from 34 licensed nurses, aged 18 to 65, practicing in the midwestern United States. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) was designed by the researcher to assess nurses' attitudes. The FATCOD was found to be a valid and reliable tool. All nurses completed the tool before and after the education program (pre-test, post-test). Compared by a t-test, the scores for the nurses were significantly higher after participation in the educational program. The t-value was found to be 2.97, significant at the less than 0.01 level, 2-tailed probability = 0.006. These findings support the hypothesis that nurses have a more positive attitude toward caring for terminally ill persons and their family members after participation in the program, than the same nurses had before participating in the program. Demographic information including age, years of experience in nursing, highest degree held, basic type of nursing preparation and previous education on death and dying were analyzed to determine their relationship to the nurses' attitudes. The only information which demonstrated any significant relationship to the nurses' attitudes was that of previous education on death and dying. These were computed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) F = 3.22, F prob = 0.04, significant at less than 0.05 level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This quasiexperimental study examined the effect of an educational program on attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their families. Participants were 115 undergraduate students: intervention group, N = 49; control group, N = 66. Pre- and post-intervention measurements were done with the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD, Form B). Students in the intervention group participated in a semester-long (15-week, 45-hour) educational program. Demographic variables, including age, gender, religion, major area of study, influence of religious beliefs, profession, previous education, and past or present experience with loss were evaluated. Statistical analyses (t-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and APVs) indicated a significant positive change in the attitude scores of the intervention group and no significant change in the attitude scores of the control group.

Nurses' attitudes toward caring for dying patients have an impact on the quality of the care provided. Education can improve knowledge and attitudes toward end-of-life care. No validated tool that measures such attitudes is available for Italian nursing students. The aim of this study was to translate the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) Form B from English into Italian and to establish its validity and reliability within an Italian population of students. A two-stage design was used. Stage I adapted the original version of the tool and tested it for content validity through a multistep process. Stage 2 tested its psychometric properties by analyzing internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. The convenience sample consisted of 465 nursing students from all the universities of one Italian region. Measures of stability showed a very good overall (0.87) intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The discriminating capacity of the scale was adequate with good values of asymmetry and kurtosis for most of the items. Good internal consistency was found. The six factors derived from the factor analysis are the following: Fear/Malaise, Communication, Relationship, Care of the family, Family as Caring, and Active Care. FATCOD Form B-I is a valid, reliable, and acceptable tool for evaluation of attitudes toward end-of-life care in Italian students. It measures six specific dimensions that should be highlighted during health care student education and training.

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