Assessment of nurses’ attitudes towards death
Keywords:
nurses, attitudes, deathAbstract
Introduction. In the last years, chronic disorders, dying and death are increasing interest not only health care professional, philosophers, sociologists and usual people.
Aim of the study. Assessment of the professionally active nurses’ attitudes towards death.
Material and methodology. The present study included 114 nurses. We used a questionnaire constructed to these investigations especially.
Results. Most nurses were against euthanasia (47.4%) and its legal sanction (39.5%). To the clinical situations in which there can be admissible euthanasia they numbered: artificial supporting life (55.3%), terminal ill patients (22.8%) and chronic disease (3.5%). They accepted the following forms of euthanasia: stopping of resuscitative action (53,5%), disconnection of apparatus (25.4%) or application of medicine (14.9%). They declared that never agree in the assisting of euthanasia procedure. Nurses reported that during the contact with dying they felt the most often: sadness (38.6%) and helplessness (32,5%), how life (27,2%) gets out or humility (22,8%). They did not fear (35,96%) rather, they did not avoid the contact with dying (51,8%), they did not accept the death, claiming that it should ruthlessly fight for the life of ill to end itself (34,%) but they accepted the death, as natural phenomenon (40,4%).
Conclusions. The majority of nurses in this study were against euthanasia, its legal sanction and they would not express the agreement in assisting of euthanasia. Even nurses against euthanasia, they accepted it, in the situation of artificial supporting the life, in terminally ill patients, and the stopping of resuscitative action would be most accepted form of the euthanasia. During the contact with dying, respondents more often sadness and helplessness felt. In the majority, they did not avoid the contact with dying, did not fear in the contact with dying, they manifested the attitude of denying, connected from the total lack of the acceptance of death, the ruthless fight about the life to the end itself and they accepted the death as natural phenomenon, it should be taken under the attention and we should fight until this possible, but we should reconcile if the death is coming.
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