Innovative teaching strategies in palliative care: reading of a phenomenological text on the experience of living with advanced cancer

Background: pedagogical strategies in palliative care are diverse and mainly aimed to understand patients with advanced disease and improving their care. Phenomenological texts are stories intended to evoke lived experiences and help understand complex situations. Aim: to determine what thoughts, experiences and feelings nursing students have when reading a phenomenological text about the experience of a person living with advanced cancer. Design and method: a descriptive qualitative study with palliative care students of the nursing degree at two university centres. The students reflected on a phenomenological text. A thematic analysis of the 14 reflections was performed. The reflections were analysed inductively and independently, and periodic sessions were held to discuss the identified categories and topics. Results: the students' writings showed that reading the phenomenological text caused them to reflect and feel moved and challenged. The impact on the students is grouped into three categories: the experience of the corporeality of patients with advanced disease makes students aware of the importance of the body; the disease as an individual transformative process challenges students; and the experiences of people with advanced cancer make students aware of the importance of how they care for patients and their families. Conclusion: the reading of a phenomenological text on the experience of living with advanced cancer may be a teaching method that can generate experiences that promote reflective and experiential learning in nursing students. It seems to be a useful tool for teaching in subjects focusing on person-centred care.