The Need for End-of-Life Training
The third identified theme was the need for and
lack of EOL training for oncology nurses. Braun, Gordon,
and Uziely (2010) found that nurses’ personal
attitudes toward death affected their care of dying
patients. They concluded that training should include
discussions of attitudes toward death, such as death
avoidance and fear of death. Lange, Thom, and Kline
(2008) assessed nursing attitudes in a cancer care
center in New York, NY, and found that oncology
nurses had a generally positive attitude toward death,
but the most positive attitudes were present in the
more experienced nurses. Implementing educational
programs taught by experienced nurses offered less
experienced nurses the knowledge they needed to
offer better EOL care.