Near-Death Experiences in Patients Undergoing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

ABSTRACT: The purposes of this two-phase descriptive study were to docu ment the frequency of near-death experiences (NDEs) in a nonprobability convenience sample of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), to describe the types of NDE experienced most commonly during CPR, and to describe patients' views of helpful nursing responses to reports of NDEs. In Phase I a nurse read to subjects Greyson's (1983a) NDE scale. In Phase II, we used an open-ended interview designed to elicit patients' perception of helpful nursing responses to NDE reports. Results have implications for broad ening the groups of persons offering patients an opportunity to discuss NDEs after CPR. The quality of health care is not measured solely by the number of human beings who survive. Rather, it is measured by the number of patients who live on, for however long, with a sense of dignity, well being, and worth. In the 1990s we are faced with the fixed variables of Ms