Death is such a part of human life as everyone must face in the end without exception. Owing to advanced latest medical technologies, most of our contemporary people face their end of life in medical institutions, and nurses come to play a role in car...
Death is such a part of human life as everyone must face in the end without exception. Owing to advanced latest medical technologies, most of our contemporary people face their end of life in medical institutions, and nurses come to play a role in caring for dying patients who face the end of life. Therefore, it is important that nurses assist dying patients in pursuing the implications of death and accepting it with positive attitudes. Particularly, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses are frequently exposed to deaths, so ICU nurses ’ recognition of death has more influences on dying patients and their family. Thus, it is expected that ICU nurses' sound recognition of death could help assure the original dignity of dying patients and provide quality medical services for them.
This study is based on descriptive survey to investigate actual conditions of ICU nurses' recognition about death. For data collection, a sample population of ICU nurses working for 10 general hospitals in Seoul Metropolitan City and Gyeonggi Province were asked to respond to a questionnaire survey for 3 months from November 2009 through February 2010, so that total 230 valid and complete questionnaires could be adopted for data processing and analysis. In this study, Inumiya Yoshiyuki deveoloped tools, ‘View of life & death scale’ was adopted as a death recognition measurement inventory except view of life after death, and the said questionnaire consisted of total 67 question items falling under 4 major categorical factors such as death meanings, death anxiety, death concem and life respect will. Each question item was measured using Likert 7-point scale. All data collected from survey were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 12.0 program. The results of this study can be summed up as follows:
1. It was found that ICU nurses scored 4.27 points on average out of full 7 points in their understandings about meaning of death. Here, it was noted that they scored 4.18 and 4.38 on average out of full 7 points in their understandings about the positive and negative meaning of death respectively. ICU nurses was more understanding negative meaning of death than positive meaning of death. It was found that ICU nurses scored 4.43, 4.12 and 4.18 points on average in their death anxiety, death concern and life respect will.
2. It was found that ICU nurses' understanding about meaning of death was negatively correlated with their death anxiety(r=- .44) and death concern(r=-.53), but was positively correlated with their life respect will(r=.54). It was found that ICU nurses' death anxiety was positively correlated with their death concern (r=.35), but was negatively correlated with their life respect will(r=-.55).And it was found that ICU nurses' involvement with death was negatively correlated with their life respect will(r= -.52).
3. According to analysis on potential influential factors in ICU nurses' recognition of death. it was found that the older age, the higher academic career, the longer working years at hospital, the longer working years at ICU, woman nurses, married nurses, religious nurses and nurses with children were correlated sig nificantly with higher level of understanding about meaning of death. According to analysis on ICU nurses' death anxiety, it was found that irreligious nurses, the shorter working years at hospital and the shorter working years at ICU were correlated significantly with the higher level of death anxiety. According to analysis on ICU nurses ’ death concern, it was found that unmarried nurses, irreligious nurses, the shorter working years at hospital and the shorter working years at ICU were correlated significantly with higher death concern. According to analysis on ICU nurses' life respect will, it was found that the older age, married nurses, nurses with children and religious nurses were correlated sig nificantly with the higher life respect will. Conclusively, this study could analyze potential influential factors in ICU nurses ’recognition of death found and thereby could help rediscover why it is important to have correct understandings about death. Hence, it is expected that ICU nurses' correct acceptance of death will have positive effects on their own life and will make it possible to keep original dignity of patients and provide multilateral nursing cares for them.