Associate Professor, Nursing, University of Worcester.
Senior Lecturer, Palliative and End of Life Care, University of Worcester.
Int J Palliat Nurs. 2021 Sep 2;27(7):352-360. doi: 10.12968/ijpn.2021.27.7.352.
Death Cafés are increasingly being held to facilitate discussions around death and dying and end-of-life issues with the public. They are thought to provide a safe, confidential and interactive space in which sensitive and supportive conversations about death and dying and end-of-life are shared.
To explore nursing students' experiences of participating in a modified Death Café and its impact on their learning about death and dying.
A qualitative interpretive approach was employed using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of third year student nurse volunteers. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes.
Students viewed the modified Death Cafés positively, reporting that they were stimulating, informative and worthwhile for discussing sensitive topics related to death and dying. Five themes were developed from interview data: anticipation of the Death Cafés; timing of the Death Cafés within the curriculum; facilitation; trust within the group and getting involved; and reflection on, and for, practice.
Students voiced a preference to disclose their feelings about death to an expert facilitator in the more informal environment of a Death Café because they thought they might be judged by their nursing lecturers. Effective facilitation of a Death Café session is critical to encourage self-scrutiny and disclosure by students, and the modified Death Café sessions achieved this.
It is expected that students may feel vulnerable while participating in a Death Café, but it is important that the sessions enable students to be open about their feelings about death and the reciprocal sharing of inner thoughts and feelings about death and dying.
越来越多的死亡咖啡馆被用来促进公众对死亡、临终和生命末期问题的讨论。它们被认为提供了一个安全、保密和互动的空间，在这个空间里，可以分享关于死亡、临终和生命末期的敏感和支持性的对话。
探讨护理学生参与改良版死亡咖啡馆的体验及其对他们学习死亡和临终的影响。
采用定性解释方法，对第三年自愿参加的护理学生进行面对面的半结构式访谈。使用主题分析来确定主要主题。
学生对改良版死亡咖啡馆的评价是积极的，他们报告说这些咖啡馆很有启发性、信息丰富，对于讨论与死亡和临终相关的敏感话题很有价值。从访谈数据中得出了五个主题：对死亡咖啡馆的期待；课程中死亡咖啡馆的时间安排；促进者；小组内的信任和参与；以及对实践的反思。
学生们更喜欢在死亡咖啡馆这样一个更非正式的环境中向专家促进者表达他们对死亡的感受，因为他们认为自己可能会被护理讲师评判。有效的死亡咖啡馆活动的促进对于鼓励学生的自我审查和自我表达至关重要，改良版的死亡咖啡馆活动实现了这一点。
学生在参与死亡咖啡馆时可能会感到脆弱，但重要的是，这些活动要让学生能够公开表达他们对死亡的感受，以及相互分享关于死亡和临终的内心想法和感受。
