Breaking bad news: Strengths, difficulties and strategies used by undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Objective: identify strengths, difficulties, and strategies used by nursing students to communicate bad news within the Primary Health Care context during the undergraduate program. Method: exploratory-descriptive study addressing 12 students attending the 7th to the 10th semesters of the nursing undergraduate program of a federal university located in southern Brazil. Their perceptions focused on the Primary Health Care context. A non-probability sampling technique called snowball sampling was used. Data were collected in June 2019 in the university’s premises using Focal Groups and analyzed through Discourse Textual Analysis. Results: the strengths that the students identified at the time of communicating bad news included teamwork, bonds, self-knowledge, and knowing the patients. Regarding difficulties, the students mentioned a lack of formal preparation, dealing with their own feelings, patients’ responses, and not knowing how to deal with such responses. Regarding the strategies used to communicate bad news, the students mentioned empathy and sensitivity, clear communication, giving hope, scheduling more than one consultation, and finding an appropriate place to talk with patients. Conclusion: the students considered that teamwork, bonds, knowing patients, and self-knowledge are strengths that facilitate the communication of bad news within the Primary Health Care context. Difficulties included lack of preparation and not knowing how to deal with their own feelings. Various strategies were mentioned, such as empathy, sensitivity, and clear communication.