Intensive Care Nurses' Meaningful Experiences in Providing End-of-Life Care

Abstract

End-of-life care (EOLC) has become a significant area of expertise in the intensive care unit (ICU). Critical care nurses are the primary caregivers of patients in the ICU and they provide EOLC for patients and families daily. Nurses have portrayed EOLC as difficult and demanding work; yet, they have also described their experiences of providing EOLC as rewarding, gratifying, and a privilege. The purpose of this study was to explore nurses’ meaningful experiences with providing EOLC for patients and families in the context of the ICU. Van Manen’s approach to interpretive phenomenology was used. Unstructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with six registered nurses who were employed in a medical/surgical tertiary care ICU. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The essence of nurses’ meaningful experiences in providing EOLC was ‘being able to make a difference’. For the nurses, being able to make a difference reflected their efforts to create a good death for the dying patient and their family. The nurses had to navigate a variety of challenges that affected the creation of a good death, however, they made it work by building relationships quickly with families, taking care of themselves, and recognizing it’s a privilege to provide EOLC. These research findings contribute to an expanding body of knowledge and understanding with regards to nurses’ role with the provision of EOLC in the ICU.