The Relationship Between the Levels of Thanatophobia and the Attitudes Towards the Care of Dying Patients Among Student Nurses.

This study investigates the relationship between thanatophobia (fear of death) levels and attitudes toward the care of dying patients among 140 student nurses at a Turkish foundation university. Using the Thanatophobia Scale and the Frommelt Attitude Toward the Care of the Dying (FATCOD) Scale, the research found that student nurses generally exhibited low thanatophobia levels and average attitudes toward end-of-life care, with more than half unwilling to care for dying patients. Positive attitudes were significantly associated with female gender, extended family background, internships in surgical clinics, and not having experienced a recent deeply affecting death. A low-level negative correlation was observed between fear of death and the attitude subdimension related to family involvement in care, but no overall correlation existed between thanatophobia and attitudes toward dying patient care. The study suggests increasing nursing students' exposure to end-of-life care and developing educational programs to raise awareness of death-related fears to improve care quality.