Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, PO Box 527, Frankston VIC 3199, Australia.
School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Plenty Rd & Kingsbury Dr, Bundoora VIC 3086, Australia.
Int Emerg Nurs. 2021 Nov;59:101102. doi: 10.1016/j.ienj.2021.101102. Epub 2021 Nov 22.
A child's death in the Emergency Department (ED) is usually unexpected and traumatic. Understanding nurses' experiences encountering such death is crucial in determining how they cope to provide quality nursing care to dying children and their families.
To report ED nurses' experiences with children's death, coping strategies and support needs.
A qualitative descriptive design. Twenty-four registered nurses who had cared for a child who died in the ED took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audiorecorded, and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Three themes were generated: 'nature of emergency department work', 'working with families' and 'coping and support'. This paper reports on the theme 'coping and support'. Although children's deaths were traumatizing and affected nurses personally and professionally, constant time pressure allowed limited reflection time. Common individual coping mechanisms used by participants included external strategies through support from other staff members including peer-support and informal supervision, and internal strategies through personal coping strategies. Participants expressed need for greater support and education/training to effectively deal with pediatric death, children's families, and their own grief.
Children's deaths and nature of ED care affected nurses. Adequate support and deathrelated education were urged by participants to promote high-quality care provision.
儿童在急诊科（ED）的死亡通常是意外和创伤性的。了解护士在遇到此类死亡时的经历对于确定他们如何应对为垂死儿童及其家属提供优质护理至关重要。
报告急诊科护士在儿童死亡、应对策略和支持需求方面的经验。
采用定性描述性设计。24 名曾在急诊科照顾过死亡儿童的注册护士参加了半结构化访谈。访谈进行了录音，并使用主题分析进行了分析。
产生了三个主题：“急诊科工作的性质”、“与家属合作”和“应对和支持”。本文报告主题“应对和支持”。尽管儿童的死亡令人痛苦，并对护士的个人和职业产生了影响，但持续的时间压力限制了反思的时间。参与者使用的常见个体应对机制包括通过其他工作人员的支持（包括同伴支持和非正式监督）的外部策略，以及通过个人应对策略的内部策略。参与者表示需要更多的支持和教育/培训，以有效应对儿科死亡、儿童家庭和自己的悲痛。
儿童死亡和急诊科护理的性质影响了护士。参与者强烈要求提供足够的支持和与死亡相关的教育，以促进高质量的护理服务。
