Lecture-simulation-combined education improve nursing undergraduates' knowledge and attitude for palliative care

Continuous improvement for the teaching method is security for promoting the quality of palliative care. The didactic lecture and simulation-based learning were always used independently, which may negatively affect the results of palliative care education. This research aimed to explore the effectiveness of lecture-simulation-combined education in improving nursing undergraduates' knowledge and attitude of palliative care. A quasi-experimental single-group pre/posttest design was adopted to evaluate the variables with a sample of voluntary fifty-two nursing undergraduates before and after an 18-hour lecture-simulation-combined palliative care course. The course was composed of two hours didactic lecture, ten hours of lecture-simulation-combined learning, and six hours of simulation practise. Two questionnaires, named Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing and Frommelt Attitude towards Care of the Dying, were used to evaluate students' knowledge and attitude of palliative care before and after the course. By paired sample t-test, the results showed increased scores in students' knowledge (p<0.05) and attitude (p<0.05) after the course. Lecture-simulation-combined education is an effective strategy to improve nursing students' knowledge and attitude of palliative care. Lecture-simulation-combined education could either be good at equipping students with theoretical knowledge, but also be capable of helping students to construct a positive attitude on palliative care.