Korean J Hosp Palliat Care.  2014 Sep;17(3):122-133. 10.14475/kjhpc.2014.17.3.122.

Awareness of Good Death and Attitudes toward Terminal Care among Geriatric Hospital Nurses

• An MS
• Lee KJ

• KMID: 2305283
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14475/kjhpc.2014.17.3.122

Abstract

PURPOSE
We conducted a descriptive correlational study to determine a relationship between nurses' awareness of good death and attitudes toward terminal care, which in turn could be used as basic data for improvement of the quality of terminal care at geriatric hospitals.
METHODS
From April 3, 2013 through April 22, 2013, data were collected from 230 nurses working at geriatric hospitals.
RESULTS
Nurses' attitudes toward terminal care showed no significant correlation with awareness of good death, but it was positively correlated with a sense of closeness, a subfactor of awareness of good death. There was negative correlation between emotions regarding a deathbed, a subfactor of attitudes of nurses in charge of terminal patients, and awareness of good death. We found positive correlation between terminal care performance and awareness of good death.
CONCLUSION
This study warrants the need for nursing education catered to characteristics of geriatric hospitals and development of diverse intervention strategies to help them to attain a positive attitude toward death by familiarizing themselves with the concept of good death and enhancing job satisfaction.

Keyword

Nurses; Attitude to death; Terminal care

MeSH Terms

Attitude to Death
Education, Nursing
Humans
Job Satisfaction
Terminal Care*