Attitudes Regarding Death Held by Nursing Professionals in Terminal Care : An Exploration of their Impact both on Patient Care and on Nurses Themselves

P(論文)Those in the nursing profession who engage in the care of terminally ill patients are apt to experience grief. At the same time, however, they may experience healing and help in overcoming their grief from the patients they care for and from their families. The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship, first of all, between nurses' attitudes regarding death and the process of dying and the kind of care behavior they exhibit toward their patients, and secondly, between nurses' behavior and manner of relating to patients and their own experiences related to healing. The research involved in-depth interviews with 25 nurses, and the results were then analyzed using the methodology of grounded theory. Analysis of the interviews revealed that those nurses who hold positive views regarding death tend to relate to patients and their families more actively and on a deeper level, and they are also more apt to experience grief. At the same time, however, such nurses were found to be more likely to receive emotional gratification through their interactions with patients and their families. This, in turn, served to alleviate their grief and aid the process of healing as well as to contribute toward their growth, on both a personal and professional level.departmental bulletin pape