THE EFFECTS OF AN AUTOTUTORIAL THANATOLOGY WORKSHOP INTERVENTION ON SELECTED KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF NURSING STUDENTS TOWARD DEATH AND DYING PATIENTS

This two-group, quasi-experimental study examined the effects of an eight-hour Autotutorial Thanatology Workshop on selected knowledge of nursing care of the dying, fear of death and dying, and the social distance between the nurse and the dying patient of 38 associate degree nursing students: 20 workshop participants and 18 nonparticipants. Three hypotheses were tested: The mean Bachtell Nursing Care Inventory score for nursing students who complete the Autotutorial Thanatology Workshop will be significantly higher than that for a control group of nursing students. The mean Bogardus Scale of Social Distance (Bogardus, 1926) score for nursing students who complete the Autotutorial Thanatology Workshop will be significantly higher than that for a control group of nursing students. The mean Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (Collett & Lester, 1969) score for nursing students who complete the Autotutorial Thanatology Workshop will be significantly lower than that for a control group of nursing students. The data were analyzed statistically using Student's t test. The (alpha) = .05 level was the standard for significance. All subjects were pretested and posttested and the data were analyzed to determine mean score differences. The mean scores on pretest and posttest for the experimental group and control group, respectively, were compared to determine change which resulted from participation in the workshop. Workshop effects were significantly higher ((alpha) = .01) posttest mean Bachtell Nursing Care Inventory scores for the experimental group when compared with the group's pretest mean score and when compared with the control group. The posttest mean Bogardus Scale of Social Distance scores for the experimental group were significantly higher ((alpha) = .05) when compared with the group's pretest mean score and when compared with the control group ((alpha) = .01). The posttest mean Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale scores for the experimental group were significantly lower ((alpha) = .05) when compared with the group's pretest mean score but not significantly different from the control group. Study findings seem to warrant the conclusion that the Autotutorial Thanatology Workshop is an effective teaching strategy for improving nursing student knowledge about and attitudes toward the dying patient.