Novice Nurse Series: How to Prepare Novice Nurses to Care for Dying Patients

There isn’t always training for nursing students in school about death and dying, leaving them feeling unprepared. As a nurse educator, you have the power to help them prepare for the very difficult task of working with patients in their final days. Consider the scenarios of an elderly patient in palliative care, a middle-aged individual battling a terminal illness, or a young patient facing a sudden life-threatening condition.

Educating nursing students to understand and respect patients’ needs for comfort, dignity, and emotional support helps the students deliver end-of-life care that respects the patient. It also provides support to their families while leaving the nurse feeling competent and confident in their role.

The Role of Death Education in Nursing Education

Education focused on the process of death and dying equips novice nurses with the knowledge and emotional resilience needed to handle the complexities of end-of-life scenarios.

According to the study The Hospice as a Learning Environment: A Follow-up Study With a Palliative Care Team, death education promotes positive attitudes toward life and reflection upon existential themes. The initiative succeeded in eliminating various barriers and cultural prejudices, promoting a shift in perspective with regard to hospice and palliative care (Testoni et al., 2020). By adding end-of-life education to school curriculum, students may be positively impacted and may be better equipped to care for dying patients as novice nurses.

This kind of training is crucial not only for patient care but also for personal and professional growth. Encountering death is an inevitable part of the nursing profession, and if approached with the right skills and knowledge, it can be one of the most impactful experiences of a novice nurse’s career for a patient, their family, and the nurse personally.

How Can Nurses Learn to Care for Dying Patients?

Caring for dying patients requires a specialized skill set that encompasses both technical and emotional skills. As nurse educators guiding novice nurses, it’s essential to ensure they are well equipped to handle these challenging situations with compassion and professionalism. Here are some effective ways nurses can prepare for this important aspect of their role.

Get Education and Specialized Training

Specialized training is important for nurses. This training should cover essential skills such as managing pain, controlling symptoms, and understanding the psychological aspects of caring for patients nearing the end of their lives. Programs that offer comprehensive insights into the physiological, social, and ethical implications surrounding death will empower nurses to provide better care during these moments.

• Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center

Offer Mentorship

If you have experience with death in practice, novice nurses can work alongside you or other specialists who can provide invaluable insights. Through mentorship, novice nurses can learn effective approaches and techniques that are important in palliative care settings.

Utilize High-Fidelity Simulation

Dr. Kelly Foltz-Ramos is leading the charge in teaching death and dying to nursing students. According to Foltz-Ramos (2023), nursing students often express a desire to learn about patient death but report a lack of training to prepare them for such an emotionally distressing experience, often due to the shortage of clinical sites and nurse faculty. Foltz-Ramos’ research found that simulation, a form of experiential learning, can help. A simulation of a failure-to-rescue scenario that takes place in a controlled environment and includes debriefing with self-reflection and a discussion of self-care was found to increase students’ knowledge, confidence, and emotional coping skills.

Use Standardized Patient Actors

Using standardized patients or actors trained to portray real-life patient scenarios can be an effective way to teach end-of-life care. These actors can help novice nurses practice and develop crucial communication and empathy skills in a controlled environment. According to a 2024 study, repeatedly using standardized patients in training helped participants learn more about end-of-life care and develop more positive attitudes toward dying patients. This repeated learning also helped learners develop critical communication skills needed to provide compassionate and effective care during emotionally charged moments (Çakmak & Inkaya, 2024).

Offer Virtual Reality Simulations

Another way Dr. Foltz-Ramos suggests teaching in simulation is virtual reality. Incorporating UbiSim’s immersive VR platform into training can offer a unique advantage for novice nurses, like enabling them to engage in highly realistic simulations designed to prepare them for the emotional and medical complexities of patient death.

UbiSim has one particular end-of-life scenario, Elizabeth Longo. Here are the simulation’s learning objectives:

• Conduct a focused nursing assessment of a patient receiving end-of-life care
• Perform evidence-based nursing interventions for a patient receiving end-of-life care
• Provide therapeutic communication and education to the patient and family member
• Communicate the patient's condition to the provider and interprofessional team using SBAR

Help Nurses Develop Emotional Resilience

The emotional experience of caring for dying patients can be significant. It is important for nurses to develop strategies to manage their emotions and maintain their mental health. Training programs should incorporate techniques for building emotional resilience, and support systems such as counseling services and peer support groups should be readily accessible. Learning to manage personal emotions effectively ensures that nurses can continue to provide compassionate care while maintaining their well-being.

• Mental Health Resources for Nurses

Final Thoughts

By integrating training in end-of-life patient care into nursing education, we can better prepare novice nurses to care for dying patients with the expertise, sensitivity, empathy, and coping skills required. This preparation will not only enhance the quality of care provided but will also support the emotional and professional growth of nurses themselves.