Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the ongoing impact of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium training program on RNs' death anxiety, concerns about dying, and knowledge of the dying process utilizing the principles of the Comfort Theory and Practice by Kolcaba (New York: Springer Publishers; 2003) at the institutional level. The research hypothesis was that, upon completion of the ELNEC training, nurses would have decreased death anxiety and concerns about dying and increased knowledge of the dying process. Pretests of all dependent variables were administered to both a treatment and a control group. Posttests were administered 2 weeks after the ELNEC training, at 6 months, and finally at 12 months to both groups to study its lasting efficiency on participants at one primary care medical center. Thirty-eight participants completed all 4 questionnaires, with 27 participants in the control group and 11 participants in the experimental group. Matched-pair analysis with 11 participants in each group was conducted with statistical significance found for perceived knowledge about dying at 2 weeks and at 12 months (P =.01) for the intervention group. Recommendations included offering the ELNEC training on a routine basis to all RNs who care for dying patients.