Nurses' and care workers' attitudes toward death and caring for dying older adults in Japan

Registered nurses (RNs) and care workers (CWs) have important roles in providing end-of-life care to older adults, but little is known about the attitudes of RNs and CWs in Japan. In this study, 464 RNs and CWs working in facilities in Japan were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire that included the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale, Form B, Japanese version (FATCOD-Form B-J) and the Death Attitude Profile (DAP), Japanese version. A total of 388 (83.6%) questionnaires were returned, and 367 (79.1%) were fully completed. The final sample included 190 RNs and 177 CWs. Multiple regression analysis showed that better attitudes toward caring for the dying were positively associated with seminar attendance and negatively associated with fear of death.