Lived experiences of staff nurses in handling dying patients

Date of Completion

1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Keywords

Attitude to Death, Nurses

Abstract

This research study used phenomenological approach of qualitative research. Purposive sampling was utilized. The respondents were eight staff nurses of De La Salle University Medical Center who had experienced handling dying patients with ages ranged from 22 to 28. Two of them were male, while six were female. The researchers used personal interview in gathering information from the respondents using a tape recorder, then transcribed verbatim. Phenomenological methodology was used in the analysis. The findings were the following: 1) In the course of handling dying patients, staff nurses experienced different stresses such as emotional, physical, and psychological. Staff nurses experienced emotional attachment as a source of stress because they found it difficult to perform certain procedures to adjust to the kind or level of their relationship with their dying patients; 2) Fear was felt because they had the feeling that they could inflict harm to their dying patients and thus could lead to their early death, apprehension about the unpredictability of the patients’ condition and the feeling of inadequacy about their competency as a caregivers to dying patients; 3) Staff nurses experienced an unfailing sympathy to their dying patients. Most often they find themselves teary-eyed and emotionally weak whenever they talked with their dying patients. They found it hard for them to give support since they see the situation as emotionally draining; 4) Staff nurses experienced physical stress while giving care to dying patients due to constant retrieving of the needed medical supplies especially when they are unavailable, provision of comfort, urgency in carrying out succeeding doctor’s order, responding when patient arrested and rendering bedside care; 5) Psychological stress was experienced whenever they identify or relate their experiences in handling dying patients to their own family members; 6) Three significant strategies were utilized by the staff nurses in coping with stresses in handling dying patients and these are isolation, suppression, and inoculation; 7) Staff nurses isolate their feelings to protect themselves from being affected by the situation since feeling of attachment for their dying patients was perceived as emotionally burdensome. They also utilized suppression to cope up with fears. They ignored them and remain unaffected by the situation. They left behind the events in the hospital and put it aside whenever possible; and 8) Staff nurses anticipated the need of dying patients. Stress in handling dying patients became less disturbing since that they already knew what to expect because they had been through the experience before.

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