School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Palliat Med. 2013 Oct;27(9):847-54. doi: 10.1177/0269216313483661. Epub 2013 Apr 23.
Little is known about the attitudes of healthcare professional students' perceived competence and confidence in treating those with dementia who are at the end of life.
To explore the attitudes of final year medical, nursing and pharmacy students towards people with dementia and to evaluate their perceived competence and confidence dealing with biomedical and psychosocial issues within the context of palliative care provision to patients with dementia.
Cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Final-year students in each profession from Queen's University Belfast (Northern Ireland) and the University of Iowa (USA) were recruited.
Three versions of an online questionnaire (containing the Attitudes to Dementia Questionnaire and a series of questions on end-of-life care in dementia) were distributed.
A total of 368 responses were received (response rate 42.3%). All respondents reported positive attitudes towards people with dementia. US nursing students reported significantly more positive attitudes than the medical students of United States and Northern Ireland. Medical students were more likely to report low confidence in discussing non-medical aspects of dying, whereas nursing students were most likely to feel prepared and confident to do this. Medical and nursing students reported low confidence with aspects of medication-related care; however, data from the pharmacy samples of Northern Ireland and United States suggested that these students felt confident in advising other healthcare professionals on medication-related issues.
While healthcare students hold positive attitudes towards people with dementia, some clinical tasks remain challenging and further basic training may be of benefit.
对于即将走到生命尽头的痴呆症患者，医护专业学生对自身治疗此类患者的能力和信心的认知情况，我们知之甚少。
探索医学生、护生和药学专业学生对痴呆症患者的态度，并评估他们在为痴呆症患者提供姑息治疗时，处理生物医学和心理社会问题的能力和信心。
使用问卷进行横断面调查。
地点/参与者：在北爱尔兰贝尔法斯特女王大学和美国爱荷华大学，招募各专业的应届毕业生。
发放了三个版本的在线问卷（包含痴呆症态度问卷和一系列关于痴呆症临终关怀的问题）。
共收到 368 份回复（回复率为 42.3%）。所有受访者对痴呆症患者的态度均为积极。美国护理专业学生比美国和北爱尔兰的医学生报告的态度更为积极。医学生更有可能报告在讨论临终非医学方面时缺乏信心，而护理学生最有可能感到有准备且有信心这样做。医学生和护理学生报告在药物相关护理方面缺乏信心；然而，来自北爱尔兰和美国药学专业学生的数据表明，这些学生对就药物相关问题向其他医护专业人员提供建议充满信心。
尽管医护专业学生对痴呆症患者持有积极的态度，但某些临床任务仍具挑战性，进一步的基础培训可能会有所帮助。
