Comparison of Attitudes Toward Death Between University Students Who Receive Nursing Education and Who Receive Religious Education

Abstract

This study aims to compare attitudes toward death between university students who receive nursing education and who receive religious education. This study is cross-sectional in nature. It was conducted with the participation of 197 university students in a university located in the Eastern part of Turkey between June and August, 2017. Data were collected using the socio-demographic form and Turkish form of Death Attitudes Profile-Revised. Of all the students participating in the study, 52.8% received nursing education and 47.2% received religious education. It was found that majority of both groups had no education about death, or found the education they received insufficient. Besides, no significant differences were found between the students who received nursing education and who received religious education in terms of their attitudes toward death (p > 0.05). Results showed that students who received nursing education and who received religious education had similar attitudes toward death. In conclusion, the education given to students about the religious or health aspects of death in accordance with the curriculum seemed to have no effects on students' developing positive attitudes toward death.

Relationship Between Death Anxiety of Turkish Nurses and Their Attitudes Toward the Dying Patients

“…For health providers, providing health care to the dying patients and his or her relatives is one of the most painful and stressful responsibilities (Bakan & Arli, 2018). Nurses need to know physical and psychological needs of the patients, to develop a positive attitude toward death, and to accept death to provide better health care.…”

“…Nurses who find encounters with death and dying very difficult may undergo feelings of insufficiency, helplessness, defensiveness, or distress; and coping mechanisms, such as prevention, being distant, and avoidance may be adopted (Anderson, Kent, & Owens, 2015). Given that dealing with the problems becomes more challenging, and the qualified and holistic care is affected negatively, the health-care providers may have negative feelings, such as grief, depression, despair, fear and anxiety, guiltiness, and have negative attitudes toward death (Bakan & Arli, 2018; Ceyhan, Özen, Zincir, Şimşek, & Başaran, 2018). Ceyhan et al.’s (2018) study showed the most common emotions the nurses had while delivering health care to terminally ill patients were sadness (81.3%) and despair (38.2%).…”

“…Nurses should cope with various societal and technological difficulties, ethical problems, and legal minefields concerning death and dying because they coordinate culturally safe holistic assessment, including family education and support, complex symptom management, and participation in end-of-life decision-making, including discussions on palliative care, advanced instructions, and not-for-resuscitation demands (Kent, Anderson, & Owens, 2012). Providing education and training about death to nurses, which is a difficult concern with its physical, psychological, and social features, are considered to be beneficial for changing negative attitudes toward death, increasing awareness, and obtaining the knowledge, psychosocial skills, and cultural consciousness to develop positive attitudes (Bakan & Arli, 2018;Wang, Li, Zhang, & Li, 2018). In the study conducted by _ Inci and € Oz (2009) in Turkish context, their findings showed that the scores of the nurses decreased regarding death anxiety and depression because of death, who are in death education/training program in terminal state and provided health care to the patients (p < .05).…”

“…Death is inevitable and, dying patients often encounter many physiological, psychological, and social difficulties and become more dependent on receiving help from other people. As health-care providers, nurses play a key role to provide health care for the dying individuals and their families (Bakan & Arli, 2018; Dunn, Otten, & Stephens, 2005; Göriş et al., 2017). Caring for dying people is often considered to be one of the most stressful parts of the responsibilities of the nurses and as the level of exposure to death increases, the professional life quality decreases (Hopkinson, Hallett, & Luker, 2005; Samson & Shvartzman, 2018).…”

“…Polat, Alemdar, and Gu¨rol (2013) reported that nurses' attitude toward death has considerable effects on the health care the nurses provide for their terminally ill patients. Personal, cultural, social, and philosophical belief systems affect the attitudes of individuals toward death; culture and religion specifically could determine particular beliefs about death and dying patients (Bakan & Arli, 2018;Peters et al, 2013). In Muslim societies, like Turkey where this study was conducted, death is considered as the rise of the soul for Allah by removing the soul from the body (Karadag, Parlar Kilic, Ugur, & Akyol, 2019).…”