Attitudes toward caring for dying patients: An overview among Italian nursing students and preliminary psychometrics of the FATCOD-B scale

Abstract

Background: Extensive research indicated that nursing students at the end of their curricula feel unprepared to care for the dying. Therefore, studies on nursing students' attitudes to caring for dying patients play a key role in nursing education, and the FATCOD-B scale is the only tool that specifically evaluates them. Methods:A cross-sectional study design was used. During 2013, the FATCOD-B scale was administered to a sample of 82 nursing students. Descriptive statistics, the Student's t-test, Cronbach's alpha and principal components analysis were used in data analyses. Results:Italian nursing students' scores on the FATCOD-B scale seemed to be lower than literature evidence on sums of ratings; however, mean ratings revealed similar levels of attitudes to the dying. Gender and personal experience with dying persons were not predictors of FATCOD-B scores. Internal consistency of the FATCOD-B scale was not satisfactory. Principal component analysis found a four-factor questionable solution for the FATCOD-B scale. Conclusions:Findings from the present study suggest a need for end-of-life care nursing education in Italy. The preliminary results concerning the psychometrics of the scale suggest that the Italian version of the FATCOD-B could be in need of revision. The implications for practice are discussed.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD–B) among Italian medical students

“…Focusing on the relationship with the dying patient during care, rather than on death and dying as general concepts, the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale Form-B (FATCOD-B) (Frommelt, 1991; appears to be a useful instrument for end-of-life care education because it provides information about the behavior of the health professionals in clinical practice. The original version of the scale, named FATCOD, had been developed for nurses (Frommelt, 1991); subsequently, the FATCOD was slightly modified in FATCOD-B to be administered to students coming from different programs of study (Frommelt, 2003 Leombruni et al, 2014a). All of these studies come from nursing education research and, despite its potential for use in medical education, the FATCOD-B scale has rarely been administered to medical students (Leombruni et al, 2012;2014b).…”

“…Not surprisingly, recent examinations of the factor structure of the FATCOD-B have found alternatives to the single dimension conceptualization; two dimensions (Nakai et al, 2006;Henoch et al, 2013a) and even four dimensions (Leombruni et al, 2014a) have been suggested. These studies, which were data driven using variable reduction techniques such as principal component analyses, were explorative and, although compelling solutions were proposed, these have not been confirmed.…”

Attitudes of Medical Students Toward the Care of the Dying in Relation to Personality Traits

“…19,20 The FATCOD-B consists of 30 randomly ordered items scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Half of the statements are positively worded and half are negatively worded.…”

“…The possible total score ranges from 30 to 150 and a higher score indicates a more positive attitude toward the care of dying patients. 19,20 For the personality assessment of the subjects, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was used. 21 The TCI is a true-false questionnaire with 240 questions that assess personality by describing aspects of temperament and character.…”

Undergraduate Critical Care Nursing Students’ Knowledge And Attitudes Toward Caring Of Dying Patients

“…Part II: "Frommelt Attitude Toward the Care of the Dying Scale form B (FATCOD-B)" that is a psychometric instrument, developed by Frommelt (26,27) and is translated in to Arabic by the researcher. The scale is designed to measure nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their families.…”