Effectiveness of Palliative Care Training and Its Impact on Experiential Learning

Official title

Effectiveness of Palliative Care Training Program Among Senior Student Nurses And Its Impact In Experiential Learning In Nursing Education

Overview

Palliative care is a complex concept in nursing that needs special education and training. However, it is not focused and under-recognized discipline and the same is consistent with nursing students. In Pakistan, conventional teaching methods in nursing have been dominating all over. These methods are insufficient to meet the evolving needs of palliative care education. Hence, it is vital to explore new innovate approaches for palliative care education. Therefore, the goal of this clinical trial is to test a palliative care training program and its impact on experiential learning among senior student Nurses. The study compares the palliative care training through 5 step pedagogical method versus traditional method. Researchers will compare palliative care training program through 5-step pedagogical framework to 2-step conventional method to see is 5-step pedagogical framework is more effective in enhancing experiential learning in palliative care among senior nursing students compare to conventional method. The group 1 receives palliative care education through 2-step method in which didactic lecture and Simulation session provided. The group 2 receive palliative care education through a 5-step pedagogy in which expose to lecture, Simulation session, video, clinical and self-directed learning session. After intervention the experiential learning will be assessed based on knowledge, skill, and self-efficacy questionnaire.

Detailed description

The nursing education often lack or little exposure to palliative care in undergraduate studies. In Pakistan, conventional teaching methods in Nursing have been dominating all over. In which students have little or no exposure of dying patients in clinical setting. Therefore, it is vital to explore new innovate approaches for palliative care education. The skill of nursing students influenced either positive or negative due to their educational method during training. In Pakistan conventional methods are dominant in nursing education. However, conventional methods are inadequate to impart practical knowledge among students. Previously, many studies reported interactive methods are dominant over the traditional methods to enhance competency and eventually employment opportunities. Hence, the ultimate goal of this study will be to see the effectiveness of palliative care training program among senior student nurses and its impact in experiential learning in nursing education. That will give the student nurses an opportunity to augment their proficiencies and improve knowledge in an innocuous environment. Eventually, the study will describe the strategies for effective learning and its impact on experiential leaning in nursing education.

This study will investigate the effectiveness of palliative care training and its impact on senior nursing student's experiential learning. The study will compare training through two different approaches a 2-step traditional approach and a 5-step pedagogy method and its impact on experiential learning. The experiential learning will be measured through the knowledge, competency and self-efficacy in palliative care as pre and post intervention using a single blind randomized controlled trial. The study may contribute in providing evidence of the efficacy of palliative care training in a resource limited setting. The study will contribute essentially in nursing education by investigating two different approaches and their effect on experiential learning.

Interventions

• Other Conventional method of Palliative care Training (Group A)
  Group A receive training through the 2-step Conventional method. The first step comprises 1 didactic lecture / week (1 hour) for 10 weeks leading towards the second step of 1 skill session / week for 1 hour under instructor supervision for 6 weeks.
• Other Pedagogical (LWPPR) method of Palliative care Training (Group B)
  Group B will receive training through the 5-steps pedagogy method including: the 1st step (learn), in which didactic lectures will be given to the students leading to the 2nd step (video watch), a 30 minutes video on Palliative care. The students first see the video in the class on multimedia with explanation and then share to the students in what's up group for frequent watching as per need. In the 3rd step (practice), students practiced their skills on a low fidelity simulator under instructor

Primary outcome measures

• Knowledge Questionnaire [Time frame: after 6 weeks of intervention and 3 months after intervention]
• Self-Efficacy [Time frame: after 6 weeks of intervention and 3 months after intervention]
• Competency [Time frame: after 6 weeks of intervention and 3 months after intervention]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Nursing students of 3rd and 4th year enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing for the academic year of 2025-2026
• Willing to attend the full course of palliative education.
• Have age of 18- 25 years.
• Both male and female will be included in the study.
• Those willing to give informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Will be on leave during study period

• Have already received any educational training on palliative care.
• Working as nursing assistants in any palliative care setting.
• Have supply in the previous academic year.
• Have previous exposure of working in palliative or end of life care services.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Double blind

Primary purpose

Supportive care

Study locations

Pakistan · 2 centers

• Al-Aleem Institute of Nursing, Gulab Devi Educational complex, Lahore — Lahore
• Rai Foundation College of Nursing — Sargodha

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07039344 · LUC/CGPS/0614032022

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗