Reading and reflecting on experiential accounts of hospital patients to foster a person-centered care approach: A novel educational method

Abstract

Background Innovative teaching methods are needed to ensure end-of-life care is provided by nurses through a person-centered approach.

Aims This study was designed to (a) explore the self-identified impact of reading dying patient experiential narrative accounts on undergraduate nursing students; and (b) explore the teaching usefulness of patient experiential narrative accounts for enhanced undergraduate nursing student awareness of the need to provide person-centered end-of-life care.

Methods Qualitative descriptive study, with 31 undergraduate nursing students reading experiential narrative accounts of dying patients and reflecting on them. A thematic analysis was carried out on the written student reflections. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize student socio-demographic data and their answers to questions on a reaction response sheet designed to assess how useful this activity had been from their perspective.

Findings Three main themes were identified: (1) gaining an insightful understanding of the relationship between the nurse and the person with advanced-terminal illness; (2) gaining awareness of themselves as nurses in their clinical practice; (3) pointing out how nurses should behave and what they should do to place the person living with advanced-terminal illness at the center of nursing practice. Among all respondents, 87.09% of students thought this was a useful learning activity.

Conclusions Reflecting on patient experiential accounts is an innovative teaching method, which help with nursing students value and gain insight into person-centered end-of-life care.