Abstract
Preparing nursing students to care for the dying can be challenging for faculty and a difficult topic for students to grasp. Nursing governing bodies require curricula to include end-of-life information. Literature shows a lack of end-of-life education throughout nursing curriculum. Limited exposure to dying patients creates concerns for nursing students being unprepared to provide adequate end-of-life care. Further discussion of this problem was included and why this topic is an essential part of nursing education. Offering a game as an alternative teaching strategy can provide faculty with an option for educating on end-of-life and a nonconventional way of learning for students. The purpose of this research was to introduce an end-of-life board game for nursing students. Qualitative case study method was used. Components and affective influence of the game were discussed. Data collection and analysis was explained to support use of a game as a teaching strategy for end-of-life education. As a result of students playing The Path of Life: A Journey of Living at the End-of-Life game, they left with increased knowledge of end-of-life issues, felt more prepared to care for the dying, and, in some cases, were more comfortable with the thought of caring for the dying. Introducing end-of-life throughout nursing curricula would benefit patients and families at end-of-life as students could apply knowledge and experience learned from playing the game.|Key words: End-of-life, nurse education, pre-licensure nursing student, games