End-of-Life Care Curricula for Respiratory Therapy Students: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to understand the current end-of-life curriculum within didactic, laboratory, and clinical courses for entry-to-practice respiratory therapy students at Respiratory Therapy University (RTU), a pseudonym for the university. The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s (1988) social cognitive theory. This study used the four constructs of observational learning, perceived self-efficacy, expectancies, and behavioral capability to explain and address the problem of limited end-of-life care curricula within an entry-to-practice BSRT program. Data collection occurred through semi-structured interviews with 13 Entry-to-practice BSRT students advancing into their senior year. The findings aligned with existing theoretical and empirical literature. Respiratory therapy students are often taught the tasks associated with end-of-life care. However, RT students do not develop the self-efficacy to perform end-of-life care independently due to limited end-of-life care experiences and curricula during their program.