Analysis of death anxiety levels in nursing staff of critical care units

• Main Author: Mª Cristina Pascual Fernández
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Enfermería 2011-01-01
• Series: NURE Investigación
• Subjects: Death; Death anxiety; Intensive care unit; Nursing staff; Education
• Online Access: http://www.fuden.es/tesis_detalle.cfm?ID_TESINA=5&ID_TESINA_INI=1&FilaInicio=1

When the patients are in the end-of-life, the cares would focus to favor a good death, for that reason the nursing staff must know how to integrate the death like a part of the life, being avoided that produces anxiety to them before the possibility of taking part its own fears to the death. The core of nursing staff in intensive care units is to maintain life of their patients, reason why the end-of life in them is not easy or natural.Objective: Evaluate the death anxiety levels in intensive care nursing staff.Material and method: An observational study was conducted descriptive cross hospital adult and Paediatric ICU General University Gregorio Marañón Hospital, through survey to nurses and auxiliary nurses of those units.The anxiety inventory was used to Death (Death Anxiety Inventory [DAI]) for the assessment of anxiety before death. Outcomes: Paediatric ICU nurses have higher levels of anxiety that the adult ICU as well as the less experienced professionals and those declared not feel trained in the subject.Conclusions: Experience and the training are key elements that help professionals face to death, from management we must ensure that patients in stage terminal are served by professionals with this profile.