Understanding Death: Cultural Factors Affecting Nursing Students' Perception

February 25, 2025 updated by: Nursemin ÜNAL, Ankara University

Understanding Death: The Impact of Cultural Factors on Nursing Students' Perception of Death

Cultural factors play a key role in shaping individuals' perceptions of death, alongside personal beliefs, professional experience, and education. Nursing students must balance their personal and cultural values with their professional responsibilities, as cultural differences influence attitudes toward death and mourning. Understanding nursing students' perceptions of death is crucial for enhancing their education and professional competence. Integrating cultural perspectives into nursing education can help students develop a more conscious and prepared approach to end-of-life care. This study aims to explore the impact of cultural factors on nursing students' perceptions of death and propose strategies to enhance cultural sensitivity in education.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Death is a universal phenomenon with varying meanings at both individual and societal levels. Today, most deaths occur in hospitals, highlighting the critical role of nurses in end-of-life care. However, research indicates that patient death is a significant source of stress for nursing students, who often feel unprepared to cope with it. Cultural factors play a key role in shaping individuals' perceptions of death, alongside personal beliefs, professional experience, and education. Nursing students must balance their personal and cultural values with their professional responsibilities, as cultural differences influence attitudes toward death and mourning. Some cultures openly discuss death, while others consider it a taboo, affecting students' experiences and emotional responses. Understanding nursing students' perceptions of death is crucial for enhancing their education and professional competence. Integrating cultural perspectives into nursing education can help students develop a more conscious and prepared approach to end-of-life care.

This study aims to explore the impact of cultural factors on nursing students' perceptions of death and propose strategies to enhance cultural sensitivity in education. Using the photo storytelling method, it will examine how students shape their perceptions of death through visual and narrative expressions, fostering deeper cultural awareness and emotional resilience in their professional practice. In this study, students meeting the inclusion criteria will be informed about the research's purpose and method and invited to participate. Those who agree will complete a Demographic Information Form. Participants will then be asked to submit three self-taken photos reflecting their perception of death within one week. Before taking the photos, they will receive guidelines on the procedure. Photos, along with date, time, and brief descriptions, will be sent via email to the lead researcher. The collected photos will be securely stored on the researcher's personal computer, coded, and preserved with transcripts for use during interviews.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Gamze Acavut, Assist.Prof.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The population consists of third-year students enrolled in the Nursing Department program at a private university.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be a third-year student in the Nursing Department of a Health Sciences Faculty at a university in Ankara during the 2024-2025 academic year
  • Own a smartphone capable of taking photographs
  • Be willing to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Students who wish to withdraw from the study at any stage will not be included in the research.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Semi-structured Questions
Time Frame: Within 1 week after participating in the study and submitting the photos to the researcher]
This semi-structured interview explores personal and cultural perceptions of death, reflections on participant-taken photos, and the impact of these experiences on nursing students' views and professional readiness.
Within 1 week after participating in the study and submitting the photos to the researcher]

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ankara University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nursemin Unal, Assoc. Prof., Ankara University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 15, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 25, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 25, 2025

Last Verified

February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Fondation de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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