End-of-life simulation improve nursing undergraduates' self-efficacy in palliative care

To care the patients who in the last stage of their lives, nursing undergraduates need more education. By simulation with the computer-controlled manikin, this research used 10 hours to train nursing students in the end-of-life care. By advertisement, seventy-four nursing undergraduate students from Grade 2 and Grade 3 were enrolled voluntarily in this research. Six hours were used to explain terminal symptoms, and the manikin controlled by teachers showed the symptoms, allowing students to practice nursing assessment, nursing skills, comfortable supply, and health educations to control or relieve the symptoms. Two hours were used to explain the communication skills with EOL patients and their families. Students could practice communication with manikin controlled by teachers. The last two hours were designed as complex clinical scenarios and students were required to role-play the nurse to care the manikin. The Self-efficacy in Palliative Care Scale (SEPC) was adopted to evaluate students' self-efficacy before and after the simulation. The self-efficacy was composed of communication, patient management, and multidisciplinary teamwork. By paired sample t-test, the result showed an increase of self-efficacy of the students (p<0.05), and three dimensions were improved. EOL simulation with the computer-controlled manikin, supplying a low-risk, learning environment, is an effective method to improve nursing students' self-efficacy in EOL caring.