Nursing care for people at the end of life is a crucial aspect of health care that involves challenges and responsibilities. In this scenario, ethical conflicts often arise resulting in situations of great suffering and high-level emotional impact, for which nursing students do not feel sufficiently prepared. The aim of this study was to find out how nursing students perceive the ethical conflicts present at the end of life and their reflective and deliberative capacity in the face of these conflicts. Descriptive qualitative study. Between February and March 2023 with nursing students at the University of Huelva in Spain. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted. The data analysis was carried out using Giorgi's method and Atlas.ti 22 software as a support. The students reported that they had encountered ethical conflicts in the end-of-life phase during their internship care period. The main causes they mention are: the management of ethical conflicts, the position on euthanasia and conscientious objection, and the influence of values and beliefs about care. They highlight the lack of training in coping and emotion management in end-of-life care. Nursing students feel unprepared to deal with the suffering and ethical conflicts involved in end-of-life care, as well as the management of their own internal conflicts. There is therefore a need for the implementation of high-fidelity simulation-based training that generates the learning of the necessary competencies in bioethics and defensive palliative care through appropriate competencies.

Background: Stress and anxiety are common problems among nursing students, affecting their mental health and academic performance. Compassion training has been shown to be effective in reducing these states. Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of a compassion-based course on perceived stress and anxiety (state and trait) among nursing students at a state university in Chile. Methods: A pre-experimental design was implemented with 45 second-year students, who completed evaluations before and after the intervention. The course included 10 sessions involving compassion meditation, mindfulness, self-compassion exercises, and autonomous practice. Results: The results showed significant reductions in and a high effect size regarding perceived stress (Cohen’s d = 0.83) and state anxiety (Cohen’s d = 0.74), while trait anxiety showed a moderate reduction (Cohen’s d = 0.34). Mediation analysis revealed that increases in self-compassion mediated the relationship between autonomous practice time and reductions in stress and trait anxiety. Conclusions: These findings suggest that compassion training is an effective strategy for reducing stress and anxiety in nursing students, improving their emotional regulation and preparation for professional practice. Therefore, it is necessary to include this approach in students’ curricular programs.