Attitudes towards patient death and stress coping strategies among nursing staff
Department of Specialized Nursing, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland
Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, with a subdepartment of Paediatric Intensive Care, Intensive Care, Multi-Specialty Provincial Hospital in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
The University of Humanities and Economics in Lodz, Poland
Subdepartment of Social Medicine and Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland
Introduction
Nursing staff, especially those working in intensive care units, are frequently exposed to patient death, which may constitute a significant emotional burden. Nurses may experience difficult emotions such as anxiety, uncertainty, psychological distress, a sense of loss, or professional failure.
The aim of the study was to assess attitudes towards patient death and to analyze stress coping strategies among nursing staff working in medical intensive care units.
Material and methods
The study was conducted among 157 professionally active nurses working in anesthesiology and intensive care units. A diagnostic survey method was used, including an original questionnaire and a standardized research tool – the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS).
Results
In the studied group, frequent contact with dying patients was reported by 59.2% of respondents, occasional contact by 23.6%, and regular contact by 17.2% of nursing staff. The analysis of nurses’ attitudes towards death showed that 71.1% of respondents accepted dying as a natural part of life. Most participants (71.3%) reported frequently experiencing anger in response to patient death, while 41.4% stated that they accepted death calmly. The CISS questionnaire analysis showed that the dominant coping styles in stressful situations were task-oriented coping (5.6 ±1.5) and avoidance-oriented coping through seeking social interactions as substitute activities (5.6 ±1.6).
Conclusions
The study showed that nurses caring for dying patients most often reported acceptance of death; however, they also experienced sadness, anger, helplessness, and tension. The factors most strongly associated with attitudes towards death were patient-related factors, particularly age and cause of death. The dominant stress coping style was task-oriented coping, supported by relationships with family, friends, and coworkers. The findings indicate the need to strengthen nurses’ communication, emotional, and ethical competencies and provide accessible forms of psychological support.
Keywords
death, coping with stress, nurses’ attitudes
Integrated with
