What are the views and experiences of critical care nurses when involved in providing and facilitating end of life care to patients and families?

The process of withdrawal of treatment has created ethical and moral dilemmas in relation to end of life care and how it should proceed. Common within this discourse is the differing demands made on health professionals as they strive to provide care for both the dying patient and family members. The National Health Service (NHS) EoLC Programme emphasises the importance of education and staff development so that EoLC discussions can be facilitated between health care teams, patients and family members. However to facilitate this aim there is a need for a greater understanding of the exact nature of EoLC within critical care areas, how withdrawal of treatment processes are operationalized within differing critical care specialities, and what the roles of critical care nurses are within EoLC so that education and staff development can flow from empirical evidence. This study aims to explore the role of the critical care nurse during end of life care