Other Titles
Assessing Nursing Students’ Palliative Care Competence [Title Slide]
Abstract
Purpose: This project evaluated undergraduate nursing students’ competency and knowledge in palliative care (PC) before a semester-long course. Findings informed curriculum design to strengthen students’ understanding and application of PC concepts in clinical practice.
Background/Significance: Palliative care is vital in nursing education, yet integration into undergraduate curricula remains inconsistent (Lippe & Becker, 2021). Developing PC competence enhances patients’ and families’ quality of life (Alhaddar et al., 2025). Assessing students’ baseline knowledge helps identify learning gaps and align curricula with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN] CARES Competencies (AACN, 2021) in PC education.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 55 prelicensure nursing students at a public university in San Francisco, California. Three surveys were administered pre-course: (1) demographic/clinical background, (2) CARES Perceived Competence Scale (15 items, 5-point Likert; range 15–75; Lippe et al., 2020), and (3) Undergraduate Nursing Palliative Care Knowledge Survey, UNPCKS 2.0 (20 items; range 0–20; Davis et al., 2020). Data were collected electronically and analyzed using SPSS 29.
Results: Participants were mainly female (73%), mean age 31 years (SD = 7.1). Most identified as Asian (51%), followed by Hispanic (22%), White (15%), African (5%), and Other (7%). Students demonstrated moderate-to-high perceived competence, with a total mean score of 68.6 (SD = 5.7) and an item mean of 4.40 (SD = 0.38). Highest item scores were in person-centered (M = 4.40) and ethical/spiritual care (M = 4.19). Lower scores appeared in holistic care planning (M = 3.75) and coping with grief (M = 3.87). Knowledge scores averaged 17.8/20 (89%), with strong performance in primary PC principles (100%) but lower in symptom management (61%), bereavement (79%), and discussions of death and dying (77%).
Conclusions: Students showed strong competence in foundational areas but gaps in advanced PC skills such as holistic assessment, symptom management, and bereavement support. Findings highlight the need for advanced PC instruction in undergraduate education (Durojaiye et al., 2023).
Implications for Nursing Education and Practice: Incorporating evidence-based PC education—through simulation, case-based learning, and interprofessional collaboration—enhances students’ abilities in holistic assessment, symptom management, and end-of-life communication (Hingley et al., 2024).
Notes
References:
Alhaddar, M., Falna, H., Sultan, H., Abu-Odah, H., Khleif, M., & Najjar, S. (2025). Towards enhancing palliative care competencies through comprehensive training for nurses and physicians in resource-limited settings: A cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing, 24(1), 688. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-03412-2
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education (2nd ed.). https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
Davis, A., Lippe, M., Burduli, E., & Barbosa-Leiker, C. (2020). Development of a new undergraduate palliative care knowledge measure. Journal of Professional Nursing, 36(1), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.06.007
Durojaiye, A., Ryan, R., & Doody, O. (2023). Student nurse education and preparation for palliative care: A scoping review. PLOS ONE, 18(7), e0286678. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286678
Hingley, S., Shimoinaba, K., Wettenhall, J., & Recoche, K. (2024). A palliative care communication simulation for undergraduate nursing and midwifery students: A pilot study. Palliative and Supportive Care, 22(6), 1653–1660. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951523000883
Lippe, M., Davis, A., Threadgill, H., & Ricamato, A. (2020). Development of a new measure to assess primary palliative care perceived competence. Nurse Educator, 45(2), 106–110. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000000682
Mian, R., & Rejnö, Å. (2024). The meaning of culture in nursing at the end of life: An interview study with nurses in specialized palliative care. BMC Palliative Care, 23, Article 166. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-024-01493-5
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Hospice, Palliative Care, Competence, Clinical Competence, Curriculum Development, Nursing Students
Recommended Citation
Li, Wen-Wen; Kim, Jung Eun; and Huang, Derrick, "Assessing Nursing Students’ Palliative Care Competence to Inform Course and Curriculum Design" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 82.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/82
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-07-28
Assessing Nursing Students’ Palliative Care Competence to Inform Course and Curriculum Design
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Purpose: This project evaluated undergraduate nursing students’ competency and knowledge in palliative care (PC) before a semester-long course. Findings informed curriculum design to strengthen students’ understanding and application of PC concepts in clinical practice.
Background/Significance: Palliative care is vital in nursing education, yet integration into undergraduate curricula remains inconsistent (Lippe & Becker, 2021). Developing PC competence enhances patients’ and families’ quality of life (Alhaddar et al., 2025). Assessing students’ baseline knowledge helps identify learning gaps and align curricula with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN] CARES Competencies (AACN, 2021) in PC education.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 55 prelicensure nursing students at a public university in San Francisco, California. Three surveys were administered pre-course: (1) demographic/clinical background, (2) CARES Perceived Competence Scale (15 items, 5-point Likert; range 15–75; Lippe et al., 2020), and (3) Undergraduate Nursing Palliative Care Knowledge Survey, UNPCKS 2.0 (20 items; range 0–20; Davis et al., 2020). Data were collected electronically and analyzed using SPSS 29.
Results: Participants were mainly female (73%), mean age 31 years (SD = 7.1). Most identified as Asian (51%), followed by Hispanic (22%), White (15%), African (5%), and Other (7%). Students demonstrated moderate-to-high perceived competence, with a total mean score of 68.6 (SD = 5.7) and an item mean of 4.40 (SD = 0.38). Highest item scores were in person-centered (M = 4.40) and ethical/spiritual care (M = 4.19). Lower scores appeared in holistic care planning (M = 3.75) and coping with grief (M = 3.87). Knowledge scores averaged 17.8/20 (89%), with strong performance in primary PC principles (100%) but lower in symptom management (61%), bereavement (79%), and discussions of death and dying (77%).
Conclusions: Students showed strong competence in foundational areas but gaps in advanced PC skills such as holistic assessment, symptom management, and bereavement support. Findings highlight the need for advanced PC instruction in undergraduate education (Durojaiye et al., 2023).
Implications for Nursing Education and Practice: Incorporating evidence-based PC education—through simulation, case-based learning, and interprofessional collaboration—enhances students’ abilities in holistic assessment, symptom management, and end-of-life communication (Hingley et al., 2024).
Description
This project evaluated undergraduate nursing students’ competency and knowledge in palliative care (PC) before a semester-long course. Findings informed curriculum design to strengthen students’ understanding and application of PC concepts in clinical practice.