Experiencing the dying process from a nurse's perspective
A literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2021.55.4.3090Keywords:
nursing, intensive care, palliative care, experiencesAbstract
Introduction: In intensive care units, nurses cope with dying on a daily basis. This is stressful for nurses and may lead to psychological distress. The aim of the literature review is to establish the experiences of nurses with the dying process in intensive care units and how to understand they cope with the dying process.
Methods: The literature review was used. The search was conducted in the following databases: COBISS, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SAGE, Web of Science and CINAHL based on eligibility criteria. The PRISMA diagram is used to present the literature selection process. The method of thematic analysis was used for analysis and synthesis of data.
Results: From 1,886 search results, we included ten articles in the final analysis. Based on content analysis, we formed two main themes: (1) Experiences of nurses with very ill and dying patients; (2) Professional attitude of nurses.
Discussion and conclusion: Conducting nursing care in intensive care units is very stressful for nurses. In nursing critically ill patients, nurses most often experience persistent physical and emotional stress, lack of emotional support, sadness, burnout, depression, difficulties in communication with relatives, and poor teamwork and team support. Many of the factors that nurses are exposed to contribute to their own feelings of distress. Policies are necessary to protect, more effectively assist and support nurses who face the dying process and ensure support to a dying person's relatives on a daily basis.
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