Positive attitudes and a sense of competence toward end-of-life care are the key to adequately support terminally ill patients. This qualitative study aims to explore healthcare students’ attitudes toward caring for terminally ill patients. Eleven students from the University of Applied Health Sciences in Switzerland participated in focus groups. Attitudes were overall positive. Most participants felt that supporting dying patients was a way to achieve professional fulfillment. However, most students felt not competent in palliative care and lacking experience. They wanted to receive better training, more specifically in good practices and appropriate behaviors. Our study fills a knowledge gap regarding the opinions and pedagogical needs of healthcare students, and highlights the importance of experiencing end-of-life care during the educational process. We recommend early exposure to terminally ill patients and appropriate attitudes toward death and dying as part of the bachelor’s curriculum, accompanied by benevolent guidance from teachers and health professionals.

对临终关怀的积极态度和能力感是充分支持绝症患者的关键。这项定性研究旨在探讨医护专业学生对照顾绝症患者的态度。来自瑞士应用健康科学大学的 11 名学生参加了焦点小组讨论。态度总体上是积极的。大多数参与者认为，支持垂死的病人是实现职业成就的一种方式。然而，大多数学生感到在姑息治疗方面不胜任并且缺乏经验。他们希望接受更好的培训，更具体地说是在良好做法和适当行为方面。我们的研究填补了关于医疗保健学生的意见和教学需求的知识空白，并强调在教育过程中体验临终关怀的重要性。作为学士课程的一部分，我们建议尽早接触绝症患者和对死亡和垂死的适当态度，并辅以教师和卫生专业人员的仁慈指导。