College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Yangsan-si, Korea.
College of Nursing, Research Institute of Nursing Science, Pusan National University, Yangsan-si, Korea.
Nurs Health Sci. 2024 Jun;26(2):e13124. doi: 10.1111/nhs.13124.
The mortality rates among critically ill patients with COVID-19 have been high. The national and institutional infection control policies and resource shortages caused by the pandemic led patients to undergo deaths without dignity and inevitably changed intensive care unit (ICU) end-of-life care (EOLC) practices. This study explores ICU nurses' experiences of providing EOLC for patients with COVID-19 who died. Eight nurses participated in a qualitative phenomenological study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from July to September 2022. Colaizzi's data analysis method was used, and the following four main themes emerged: (i) only companion in the death journey; (ii) helping families prepare for death; (iii) EOLC trapped within a framework; and (iv) EOLC in retrospect. To secure high-quality EOLC in ICU, it is important to promote practical support for nurses and EOLC-related discussions/education. Technical support, such as digital communication technologies, should be reinforced to help patients and their families participate in EOLC.
COVID-19 重症患者的死亡率一直居高不下。国家和机构的感染控制政策以及大流行导致的资源短缺，使得患者在没有尊严的情况下死亡，不可避免地改变了重症监护病房 (ICU) 的临终关怀 (EOLC) 实践。本研究探讨了 ICU 护士为 COVID-19 死亡患者提供 EOLC 的经验。八名护士参加了一项定性现象学研究。半结构式访谈于 2022 年 7 月至 9 月进行。采用科拉兹的数据分析方法，得出以下四个主要主题：（i）死亡之旅中的唯一伴侣；（ii）帮助家庭为死亡做准备；（iii）EOLC 陷入框架；（iv）EOLC 事后反思。为了在 ICU 中确保高质量的 EOLC，重要的是要为护士提供实际支持，并开展 EOLC 相关的讨论/教育。应加强技术支持，如数字通信技术，以帮助患者及其家属参与 EOLC。
