Purpose/objectives: To determine the amount and types of content regarding pain and end-of-life (EOL) care included in major textbooks used in nursing education.
Design: Descriptive.
Sample: 50 texts (45,683 pages) selected from a potential of more than 700 texts.
Methods: Content analysis and quantification of nine essential areas of EOL care content present in the texts.
Main research variables: Nine areas of EOL care: palliative care defined; quality of life, pain; other symptom assessment/management; communication with dying patients and families; role/needs of family caregivers in EOL care; death; issues of policy, ethics, and law; and bereavement.
Findings: Only 2% of the overall content and 1.4% of chapters in nursing texts were related to EOL care. Based on the analysis, many deficiencies were identified in the texts, including inaccurate information and a lack of information regarding critical EOL topics.
Conclusions: Nursing texts contain limited content regarding EOL care. Increased attention to this area is essential in preparing nurses to care for patients at EOL.
Implications for nursing practice: Nursing practice is based on the foundation of nursing education. Changes in nursing school curriculum and provision of continuing education for practicing nurses are essential for improved EOL care.