Communicating with terminally ill cancer patients and their families

This qualitative study aimed to investigate whether 4th year undergraduate nursing students raise concerns about communication with terminally ill and dying cancer patients and their families. It focused on factors which could influence students’ feelings of insecurity/security when communicating with this group of patients and their families, factors which could influence communication, and whether students felt adequately prepared for this kind of nursing. The research involved interviewing 12 student nurses in their 4th year of their undergraduate education at a Scottish university using content analysis for analyzing the data. Five themes and 13 sub-themes emerged from this analysis. The findings revealed that communicating with terminally ill and dying cancer patients in the acute setting is difficult for student nurses and issues about death and dying tended to be ignored. While it was found that university lectures about death and dying were helpful, lack of support and guidance within the clinical setting was a major concern.