Comparison of Attitudes toward Death and Dying among Nursing Majors and other College Students

Abstract

Recent studies of attitudes toward fear of death and dying among under-graduates have been sparse. Hoelter's Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) [1] was developed among undergraduates to discern fear of death or death anxiety. The purposes of this study were to 1) examine the factor structure and reliability estimates of Hoelter's MFODS in a contemporary sample of college students and 2) compare the attitudes of nursing majors with those of other college students at a small liberal arts university in rural, southwestern Arkansas. It was hypothesized that the 1) attitudes of nursing majors would differ from those preparing for other careers and 2) attitudes of nursing majors and other undergraduates would differ at each level of student status (freshman through senior years). This was a descriptive study surveying attitudes among students who were recruited through cooperating faculty in courses serving all undergraduate majors. Informed consents were signed after review of the introductory information by the students. The sample consisted of 405 students, ages eighteen to sixty-four years (mean age 26 years); 27 percent were males and 73 percent females. Nursing students comprised 24 percent of the sample and were marginally different demographically from other students. The MFODS (a 42-item, pencil-and-paper instrument including a demographic questionnaire) was administered in one classroom session. Factor structure was derived using principal components analysis with varimax rotation and revealed eight subscales accounting for 21 percent of the variance. The total scale alpha reliability was .88, with eight subscale alpha reliabilities ranging from .75 to .85. The results of comparisons of nursing students with others revealed differences on three subscales and the total MFODS. Nursing students were less fearful of the dead, less fearful of being conscious while dead, and less fearful of being destroyed after death. Analyses of students by levels of student status revealed that freshman nursing students were most fearful of the dead and junior nursing students were most fearful of discovering a dead body. Other undergraduate freshmen were most fearful of events after death such as treatment of the body after death, being practiced on by medical students, being embalmed, being conscious in a morgue, and the thought of never being found after death. There were no significant findings among comparisons of nursing and other undergraduate majors by level of student status (freshman through senior). It was concluded the MFODS was a reliable instrument. Nursing students displayed significant attitudinal differences as compared to other students examined. Students who study nursing may bring greater acceptance of death and the dying process to health care arenas. Longitudinal comparison studies and qualitative analyses of attitudes were recommended to further elucidate professional socialization processes.