Palliative care nursing education: a review of research findings

Recently, there has been considerable interest shown in research studies that identify the needs of dying patients and their families, as well as the needs of health care professionals who care for the dying. This particular type of research has significantly contributed to an increase in the awareness of health care professionals of the need to look critically at the ways dying patients and their families are cared for. Moreover, this awareness has led to demands for death education and, in recent years, advances have been made in identifying a body of palliative care knowledge to teach health care professionals. This progress has been particularly notable within nursing. This paper presents an analysis of some of the key education research undertaken, focusing specifically on studies related to death education. Some potential areas for future research in palliative nursing education are also discussed.