Integrating standardized patients into bioethics education for freshman nursing students

Background Aim: Bioethics education nourishes consciousness in bioethics and influences the attitude and perception of death. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of bioethics education by employing standardized patients for freshmen nursing students. Methods Materials: A quasi-experimental single group pretest-posttest design was used to assess the effect of bioethics education employing standardized patients on 33 freshman nursing students’ perception of dignified death and empathy who took the course of bioethics of a university. Results: The perception of dignified death appeared higher in post-education than pre-education, and the subdomain of personal distress under empathy appeared higher in post-education than pre-education. In regard to the replies on the question of “disclosure of diagnosed cancer”, 54.6% of respondents approved, while 90.9% expressed “it should be at the discretion of doctors.” Conclusion: bioethics education employing standardized patients appeared assisting students experiencing changes in perception of a dignified death. It may be useful in applying the teaching module for students with courses in bioethics.