A qualitative study exploring nursing students' perspectives on and attitudes towards hospice care in China.

Background: With the fast growth of the older population and the increasing rates of chronic illnesses, the demand for hospice care is increasing at a rapid pace. This is bringing great challenges to the healthcare system in China. Given that nursing students will be the main healthcare workforce in the future, and as such, have responsibilities to prepare for these challenges. Therefore, understanding nursing students' perspectives and attitudes towards hospice care in China is important to promote the development of hospice care services.

Objectives: To explore the perspectives and attitudes of Chinese nursing students towards hospice care.

Method: The descriptive phenomenology of a qualitative approach was used for the study. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews from 11 nursing students in China between April and June 2021. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's seven-step approach.

Findings: Three main themes were identified: (1) Lack of knowledge and skills; (2) lack of clinical experience; and (3) needs for service improvement. These findings indicated the problems of hospice care education and hospice care services in China.

Conclusion: The nursing students in this study lacked theoretical knowledge and the practical skills of hospice care. This suggests that medical educational institutions and the government should take action to increase hospice care training for nursing students, in order to increase the capacity and availability of hospice care services. It also informs policy-makers, health professionals, and health educators about the further need for the development of hospice care services in China.