Nursing students' concerns about end of life in California, Norway, and Sweden

To investigate concerns about dying for newly admitted nursing students from California, Norway, and Sweden.

A total of 389 undergraduate nursing students who had just started their nursing programme participated. Data was collected with a questionnaire that included two instruments-the Concerns about Dying instrument and the Sense of Coherence instrument-and background questions. The data was analysed using statistical and content analysis.

There were statistically significant differences between the three groups of students in terms of their age, their experience in health care, whether they had previously attended a dying patient, the age at which they first encountered the death of a loved one, and their concerns about dying. Two main categories emerged from the analysis of the open questions: 'attending to dying and grieving persons' and 'thinking about one's own death'.

The study provides important insights into the concerns that newly admitted students bring to the nursing programme.