Nurses' early and ongoing encounters with the dying and the dead: a scoping review of the international literature

Navigating Improper Care Settings: Nurses' Experiences Assisting Oncological Patients at the End of Life in Surgical Departments

BACKGROUND

Despite the growing preference for end-of-life care at home, numerous oncological patients continue to spend their final moments in surgical wards. This incongruity in settings may contribute to "dysthanasia," unnecessarily prolonging futile treatments and resulting in undue suffering. As frontline caregivers, nurses frequently bear the brunt of these challenging situations for patients and their families.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the experiences of nurses providing care to terminally ill oncological patients inappropriately admitted to surgical departments.

METHODS

We adopted a phenomenological descriptive study. Nurses purposefully selected from 7 distinct surgical units at a University Hospital in Northeast Italy were recruited. Data collection took place through open-ended semistructured interviews. The interview content was analyzed using Colaizzi's framework.

RESULTS

The study with 26 participants revealed emotional challenges, especially for less-experienced nurses. Diverse perspectives among nurses emphasized the need for better palliative care knowledge. Despite the commitment to quality care, collaboration challenges and discordant goals with physicians impacted comprehensive care delivery.

CONCLUSIONS

Dysthanasia relates to participants' challenges in caring for oncological patients in inappropriate settings, hindering transparent communication and exacerbating discordance with doctors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, and surgeons are crucial. Ongoing education in end-of-life care, coupled with advance care planning, empowers patients, aligns treatment choices, and prevents dysthanasia across diverse healthcare settings.

R425 first year student nurses 'experience of encounters with death of a patient during clinical placement

BACKGROUND

In the course of caring, nurses often experience the death of patients, and this experience has an effect on the nurse. Every nurse responds to this experience in a different way, and it can be either a negative emotional response, or a positive emotional response. As part of their curriculum, R425 first-year student nurses are placed in clinical facilities to acquire competency in nursing skills, and here they may be exposed to patients dying. R425 is a South African Nursing Council regulation relating to the approval of and the minimum requirements for the education and training of a nurse (General, Psychiatric, and Community) and Midwife, leading to registration. End-of-life care can be rewarding, yet emotionally and psychologically challenging. Little is known about R425 first-year student nurses' experiences of patients dying while being cared for by nurses on clinical placement. The study, therefore, explored and describes R425 first-year student nurses' experiences of the death of a patient during clinical placement.

METHOD

A qualitative exploratory descriptive and contextual research design was adopted, and a purposive, nonprobability sampling approach applied. Data were collected through unstructured individual interviews with 15 R425 first-year student nurses. Data were analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS

Four themes emerged, namely, knowledge, psychological trauma, low self-esteem, and nutritional disorders, and subthemes were identified. Results reveal both negative and positive responses to encountering the death of patients, with more negative responses, and fewer positive responses.

CONCLUSION

Results show that first-year student nurses struggle to cope with the death of a patient, mainly because they lack knowledge and the skills required to provide end-of-life nursing. It is the requirement for student nurses to be competent in a skill, 'last office', which involves laying out of a dead person. Such skill can be deferred in the first year of study, and can only be introduced at a later stage, either in third year or fourth year of study, when students are better equipped with knowledge and skills relating to dealing with death. There is a need to review the curriculum of R425 first-year student nurses, so that outcomes such as death and dying can be introduced in the third or fourth year of study.

The use of games by nurses in palliative care: a scoping review

Background: Nursing is at the forefront of palliative care. Games are an innovative strategy in palliative care training. Aims: This study aimed to examine the usefulness of games for nurses in palliative care. Methods: A scoping review was conducted using the following databases: CINAHL and PUBMED (which includes MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS and SciELO). The steps outlined by the Joanna Briggs Institute were followed. Findings: Of the 685 articles initially identified, 17 were included for analysis. Games used were role-play (n=12), card games (n=1), digital games (n=1), board games (n=1), reflection games (n=1) and experimental games (n=1). Games were aimed at nurses (n=6) and nursing students (n= 1 1). Game advantages included: improved palliative care knowledge, increased communication skills, reduced negative emotions and increased multidisciplinary team skills. Conclusions: Effective and innovative pedagogical techniques are required training techniques for nurses and nursing students who provide palliative care, as they can reduce negative emotions such as fear, anguish and guilt.

Intern nursing students’ perceived barriers to providing end-of-life care for dying cancer patients in a death taboo cultural context: A qualitative study

Objective

Internationally, intern nursing students' experiences with dying patients and death are an area of great concern. However, barriers to providing end-of-life care for dying cancer patients have not been extensively investigated in mainland China, where death remains a taboo issue. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate intern nursing students' perceived barriers to their performance in providing end-of-life cancer care in the Chinese cultural context.

Methods

This was a descriptive, qualitative study. Twenty-one intern nursing students from three cancer centers in mainland China were interviewed between January 2021 and June 2022. A thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data. The theory of planned behavior was adopted to design the study and identify themes.

Results

A range of barriers related to attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control that hindered intern nursing students from acquiring abilities to deal with patient dying and death were identified in the Chinese cultural context.

Conclusions

Chinese intern nursing students encountered many barriers that affected their provision of end-of-life care to dying cancer patients. Strategies to improve their ability to provide appropriate end-of-life care should focus on helping them develop appropriate attitudes toward dying and death and how to overcome subjective norms and behavioral control barriers.

Bereavement care and the interaction with relatives in the context of euthanasia: A qualitative study with healthcare providers

BACKGROUND

A recent review shows an interdependence between healthcare providers and relatives in the context of euthanasia. Belgian guidelines do focus on the role of certain healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, and psychologists), yet they hardly specify bereavement care services before, during and after the euthanasia.

PURPOSE

A conceptual model showing underlying mechanisms of healthcare providers' experiences regarding the interaction with and the provision of bereavement care to relatives of cancer patients throughout a euthanasia process.

METHODS

47 semi-structured interviews with Flemish physicians, nurses and psychologists working in hospitals and/or homecare, conducted from September 2020 to April 2022. Transcripts were analyzed using the Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach.

RESULTS

Participants experienced the interaction with relatives as very diverse, which can be visualized as a continuum ranging from negative to positive, depending on each unique case. The achieved degree of serenity was the main contributor in determining their position on the aforementioned continuum. To create this serene atmosphere, healthcare providers undertook actions underpinned by two attitudes (wariness and meticulousness), which are guided by different considerations. These considerations can be categorized into three groups: 1) ideas about a good death and its importance, 2) having the situation well under control and 3) self-reassurance.

CONCLUSIONS

If relatives were not at peace, most participants said that they deny a request or formulate additional requirements. Moreover, they wanted to ensure relatives can cope with the loss, which was often experienced as intense and time-consuming. Our insights shape needs-based care from healthcare providers' perspective in the context of euthanasia. Future research should explore the relatives' perspective regarding this interaction and the provision of bereavement care.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

Professionals strive for a serene atmosphere throughout a euthanasia process to ensure relatives can cope with the loss, and the way in which the patient died.

An exploration of the views of staff on cultural aspects of end-of-life care in Japanese long-term care facilities: a qualitative study

Long-term care facilities are increasingly important places for palliative and end-of-life care provision in Japan. While the importance of culture has been noted for palliative and end-of-life care, an exploration of its influence on care provision in long-term care settings has received little direct attention in Japan. Exploring staff views and beliefs in palliative and end-of-life care in these settings can potentially enhance our understanding of culturally oriented care and facilitate the development of tailored and more effective support practices. This study aimed to explore the cultural views and beliefs regarding palliative and end-of-life care among the staff in Japanese long-term care facilities. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using focus groups with facility staff (N = 71) and semi-structured interviews with facility managers (N = 10) in the Kanto region of Japan. Thematic analysis was conducted according to Braun and Clarke's approach. The findings are presented in five key themes: ‘Changes in society's and family's end-of-life perspectives’, ‘Values and beliefs regarding death and dying’, ‘Anxiety and regret’, ‘Tensions in doing the right thing’ and ‘Ways of alleviating pressure’. The findings indicate that the provision of palliative and end-of-life care is underpinned by cultural nuances that influence care providers' approach and delivery. Recognising and understanding the cultural beliefs of staff around death, dying and end-of-life care are important in meeting the needs of residents. Palliative care education for staff in these settings should include cultural considerations that reflect changing societal views on death and dying.

Experience of Pediatric Patient Death, Moral Distress, and Turnover Intention among Pediatric Nurses at a Tertiary Hospital in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Pediatric nurses are particularly vulnerable to moral distress and turnover due to frequent experiences with patient death combined with limited pediatric palliative resources and related support. Objective: This study examined pediatric nurses' experiences of pediatric patient death, moral distress, and turnover intention and identified the correlations between them as well as the mediating role of moral distress. Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted an online survey with 161 pediatric nurses working in a tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. The survey comprised questions to assess nurses' experience of pediatric patient death and turnover intention and a validated instrument to measure their moral distress. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationships between study variables, and structural equation modeling was performed to determine the mediating effect of moral distress. Results: Pediatric nurses (N = 161) reported high levels of moral distress with a mean score of 101.06 (standard deviation = 70.528) on the pediatric version of the Moral Distress Scale. Turnover intention increased 1.01 times for every 1 U increase in moral distress. Moral distress fully mediated the relationship between the experience of pediatric patient death and turnover intention. Conclusion: Pediatric patient death had an indirect effect on turnover intention through moral distress among pediatric nurses. Reducing pediatric nurses' moral distress caused from experiencing patient death may help minimize their turnover intention.

A genealogy of what nurses know about 'the good death': A socio-materialist perspective

In this article, we report the outcome of a sociological inquiry into nursing knowledge of death and dying, specifically 'the good death'. A genealogical approach informed by actor-network theory and appreciative inquiry were used to compose a broad socio-material account of how nurses concern themselves with the care of the dying and end-of-life care. Our enquiry revealed similarly to other studies, that there was no shared or overarching model of care. Key themes derived from nurses' translations of 'the good death' were re-presented pictorially as six pillars and two processes to comprise a new diagram of The Personalised Ideal Death.