Paper
Friday, July 23, 2004
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Friday, July 23, 2004
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Evaluation of an End-of-Life Educational Conference
Jane M. Kurz, PhD, RN, CAHP/Department of Nursing, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA and Evelyn R. Hayes, PhD, RN, CS-FNP, Department of Nursing, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: n/a |
| Learning Objective #2: n/a |
Objective: To evaluate an End-Of-Life (EOL) Educational Program on registered nurses’ death anxiety, death attitudes and advance directives over time Design: Quasi-experimental Population: Registered nurses at 2 different conferences were invited to participate. Intervention group included 26 at the pre-test, 15 at post-test 1 and 11 at post-test2 and 3. Control group included 34 at time 1, and 22 at time 2 and 16 at time 3. Both groups were similar. Study occurred between October 2002 and November 2003. Concepts Studied: The study, based on General Systems Theory, focused on registered nurses who take inputs (i.e.,information) and produce outputs in the form of a change in anxiety, attitudes or behaviors. Methods: A demographic sheet, The Revised Death Anxiety Scale (RDAS), and The Death Attitude Profile-revised (DAP-R), were mailed. EOL program participants completed surveys prior to and immediately, 6 months and 12 months after the program. A control group completed the same surveys at the same times. Findings: Initially, 40% of the research group and 33% of the control group had advance directives but one year later 45% and 44%, respectively, had these. Originally, there were no differences with death anxiety or attitude between the research group and the control group. In the research group paired t-tests showed no statistically significant differences with death anxiety at pre-test, post-test 1 and post-test 3. There was a reduction in death anxiety at post-test 2 for the research group (t=-2.65, p=.02). Death attitude each time remained unchanged. Control group had no changes in death anxiety or death attitude scores. Conclusions: Program effects are not detected immediately. Deceased anxiety is not sustained over time. The EOL program did not increase death anxiety. Implications: Repeated interventions are needed to effect long-term changes. Future studies should include using a different death attitude survey and triangulating designs.
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