Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 2e/2019

Encountering death – preparation of students

Encountering death and caring for a dead body are some of the most demanding moments of the nursing profession. Using the method of quantitative research – the technique of non-standardized questionnaire – we wanted to find whether college studies prepared the students adequately for such demanding moments. The research was conducted among students of the bachelor‘s program of Nursing/ Licensed Practical Nurses at the Faculty of Humanities, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, and at the Medical School of Charles University in Hradec Králové. Our goal was to find whether the students perceived a person‘s dignity even after death. In the past we paid attention to a person‘s dignity in the final stage of their life, i.e. dying (1). We asked the following research question: How are prospective graduates of the “Nursing” program prepared for caring about a dead body?

Keywords: dignity, ethics, dead body, student of nursing, bachelor‘s program, respect, death