Abstract
Objectives : This study aims to examine the effects of death education program on meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients among nursing students. Methods : Subjects were 155 nursing students of the K college. Before and after the intervention, students responded a questionnaire developed to measure meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients. To analyse the data, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$, t-test, and paired t-test were used with an SPSS 12.0 program. Results : 1. Meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels significantly increased, death anxiety levels significantly decreased. 2. Meaning in life levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, no religion, no death experience of relatives. 3. Death anxiety levels decreased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, no religion, no death experience of relatives, but increased significantly in a buddhist group. 4. Attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, won buddhist, no death experience of relatives. Conclusions : This study, through the above result, shows that the death education program can be an effective nursing education to improve meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients and to decrease death anxiety. These results suggest that the death education program will be helpful for recognizing the values of themselves and their current lives and improving their nursing intervention care of the dying patients.
