A Life Slips Through Our Fingers” Experiences of Nurses Working in Pediatric Intensive Care Units About Children’s Death

A Qualitative Study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13629002
AutoresMusa Özsavran (0000-0001-9008-900X, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, autor de correspondencia), Aylin Kurt (0000-0002-5521-0828, Bartin University), Tülay Kuzlu Ayyıldız (0000-0002-8924-5957, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University), Zeynep Gül (Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University)
Año2024
Volumen92
Número4
Páginas2227-2246
Fecha de publicación2024-01-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228231225885
PMID38166543
OpenAlexW4390490746
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas52

Caring for a dying child can be an experience full of all kinds of negative emotions, pain and stress for the pediatric nurse. In this study, which was carried out in Turkey, we aimed to determine how nurses working in a pediatric intensive care unit remembered and made sense of their experiences regarding children's deaths. In-depth interviews were held with 13 nurses. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. Three themes were identified. These were (1) Personal effects of death, (2) Difficulties in care, and (3) Coping with death. It was clear that the nurses were traumatised by their exposure to infant deaths. The findings showed that nurses experienced regret, fatigue and posttraumatic stress disorder. In addition, it was determined that nurses should be supported to cope with child deaths, which is a complicated process involving the child and the family, especially emotionally. Moreover, providing institutional support to nurses and referring them to cognitive-behavioral therapies may make it easier for them to cope with the emotional burden they carry, as well as the burnout they experience

Intensive care · Intensive care medicine · Qualitative research · Sociology · Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life · Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units · Medicine · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues · Psychology