eISSN 2097-6054 ISSN 1672-9234 CN 11-5289/R
Responsible Institution:China Association for Science and Technology
Publishing:Chinese Nursing Journals Publishing House Co.,Ltd.
Sponsor:Chinese Nursing Association
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Chinese Journal of Nursing Education ›› 2025, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (11): 1328-1335.doi: 10.3761/j.issn.1672-9234.2025.11.008

• Curriculum, Teaching Materials, Teaching Methods • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Design of simulated teaching for end-of-life communication and its application among nursing interns

LIU Jinlong(), HOU Binbin, XU Yunjia, XIA Yun, LOU Yan()   

  • Received:2025-05-02 Online:2025-11-15 Published:2025-11-17
  • Contact: LOU Yan E-mail:2661125326@qq.com;yan.lou@hznu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective To understand the gains of nursing interns in the situational simulation teaching of discussing the end-of-life needs of patients in hospice care,as well as their suggestions for the teaching. MethodsUsing the convenient sampling method,24 nursing students interning in 5 tertiary grade A hospitals in Hangzhou City from September to December 2024 were selected as the participants. They received situational simulation teaching on identification of end-of-life needs of hospice patients,using the Heart to Heart Cards as the teaching medium. After the teaching,all nursing interns were surveyed using the Heart to Heart Cards Participant Evaluation Form,and 8 nursing interns were purposefully selected as interviewees for one-on-one semi-structured interviews to understand the interns’ gains in the teaching and their suggestions for the teaching. Results All nursing interns considered the learning based on the Heart to Heart Cards a very meaningful experience;among them,23 thought that discussing death-related topics with the help of the Heart to Heart Cards was relatively easier. Four themes were extracted from the interview data:teaching stimulates students’ learning initiative,teaching drives the internalization of students’ communication skills,teaching facilitates the deepening of students’ cognition,and students expect the teaching to be optimized in two aspects:case types and teaching duration. Conclusion The situational simulation teaching of confirmation about end-of-life needs of hospice patients integrated with the Heart to Heart Cards can mobilize nursing interns’ initiative in learning relevant teaching content,and to a certain extent,help cultivate their end-of-life communication and humanistic care abilities. Nursing interns hold a positive attitude toward integrating the Heart to Heart Cards into this end-of-life communication situational simulation. In the future,the teaching needs to be further optimized in combination with the suggestions of nursing interns.

Key words: Hospice and Palliative Care, End-of-life Communication, Confirmation about End-of-life Needs, Heart to Heart Cards, Nursing Interns, Constructivist Theory