Journal List > Asian Oncol Nurs > v.13(4) > 1081783

TOOLS
Hong, Jun, Park, and Ryu: Death Perceptions, Death Anxiety, and Attitudes to Death in Oncology Nurses
Original Article

Asian Oncology Nursing 2013; 13(4): 265-272.

Published online: 31 December 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2013.13.4.265

Death Perceptions, Death Anxiety, and Attitudes to Death in Oncology Nurses

Eunmi Hong1, Meeduk Jun2, Eun Shim Park3, Eunjung Ryu4

Doctoral Student

1Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

2Department of Nursing, National Cancer Center, Seoul, Korea.

3Graduate School of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.

4Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Park, Eun Shim. Graduate School of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heuksuk-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-756, Korea. Tel: +82-10-2795-6424, Fax: 02-824-7961, jam6424@daum.net

Received 2 December 2013       Accepted 14 December 2013

© 2013 Korean Oncology Nursing Society

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to identify the relationships among death perceptions, death anxiety, and terminal care attitudes of nurses in oncology unit and to explore the predictors affecting their attitudes toward terminal care in Korea.

Methods

A sample of 94 nurses was recruited from oncology units at one university hospital and a national medical center in Korea. The subjects completed a demographic questionnaire, the View of Life and Death Scale, the Fear of Death Scale the Korean version, and the Attitudes toward Nursing Care of the Dying Scale.

Results

The subjects' terminal care attitudes were significantly positively influenced by death concern, perception of positive meanings of death, and experiences with the death of a family member or acquaintance in the last year. Those influential variables explained 21.5% of their terminal care attitudes.

Conclusion

Findings of this study suggest that developing continuing education programs that teach effective coping strategies to prevent death anxiety and identifying barriers that can make caring for dying patients difficult may make a significant positive increase in the nurses' attitudes toward care of the dying. In addition, the provision of effective palliative care in oncology settings remains open to review through further research and development.

Keywords: Death, Perceptions, Anxiety, Attitude to Death, Medical Oncology

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Characteristics of the Subjects (N =92)
aon-13-265-i001
Table 2
The Descriptive Statistic for Study Variables
aon-13-265-i002
Table 3
The Differences of Attitude to Death according to General Characteristics (N =92)
aon-13-265-i003
Table 4
The Correlation among Study Variables
aon-13-265-i004
Table 5
The Predictors of the Attitude of Death
aon-13-265-i005

Notes

This article is based on a part of the first author's master's thesis from Chung-Ang University.

References

1. Kim JH. Predictors of death fear, death acceptance and death competency across the adult life span. Seoul: Seoul Univ.;2008. [master's thesis].
2. Jung KW, Won Y, Kong H, Oh C, Seo HG, Lee J. Cancer statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival and prevalence in 2010. Cancer Res Treat. 2013; 45(1):1–14.
crossref
3. Kim S, Choi Y, Shin S, Chong M, Lee S, Lee S, et al. Development of education program for physicians based on the 2004 hospice palliative model project for terminal cancer. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 2006; 9:67–76.
4. McMillan SC. The quality of life of patients with cancer receiving hospice care. Oncol Nurs Forum. 1996; 23(8):1221–1228.
5. Yoon HK, Yun YH, Ou SW, Koh HJ, Huh BY. Factors associated with the place of death in Korea; a population based study. Korean J Fam Med. 2001; 22(7):1077–1085.
6. Kim MJ. A study on intensive care unit nurses' perception and attitudes toward death. Seoul: Kyunghee Univ.;2007. [master's thesis].
7. Stewart AE, Lord JH, Mercer DL. A survey of professional's training and experiences in delivering death notifications. Death stud. 2000; 24(7):611–631.
crossref
8. Cho HJ, Kim ES. The effect of the death education program on the death anxiety and attitudes toward nursing care of the dying patients of nursing student. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 2005; 8(2):163–172.
9. Kübler-Ross E. On death and dying. New York: Macmillan;1969.
10. Detering KM, Hancock AD, Reade MC, Silvester W. The impact of advance care planning on end of life care in elderly patients: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2010; 340:c1345.
crossref
11. Seo MJ, Kim JY, Kim S, Lee TW. Nurses attitudes toward death, coping with death and understanding and performance regarding EOL Care: focus on nurses at ED, ICU and oncology department. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 2013; 16(2):108–117.
crossref
12. Roh SS. A study on death perception, terminal care attitude, and terminal care performance of clinical nurses caring for cancer patients. Suwon: Sungkyunkwan Univ.;2011. [master's thesis].
13. Kang JH, Han SJ. A study of intensive care unit nurses’ understanding of the meaning of death, death anxiety, death concern and respect for life. Korean J Hosp Palliat Care. 2013; 16(2):80–89.
crossref
14. Inumiya Y, Han S-Y. A study on development of a view of life and dealth scale. Korean J Psychol Soc Issues. 2004; 10(1):31–82.
15. Li Y. Recovering from spousal bereavement in later life: does volunteer participation play a role? J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2007; 62(4):S257–S266.
crossref
16. Eo DY. Nurses' death and anxiety and attitude concerning hospice care. Busan: Catholic Univ. of Busan;2010. [master's thesis].
17. Kang KA. Comparison of meaning in life and death attitude between participants and non-participants in well-dying education. J Korean Oncol Nurs. 2010; 10(2):156–162.
crossref
18. Cohen J. A power primer. Psychol Bull. 1992; 112(1):155–159.
crossref
19. Suh H. Attitudes of male and female older adults concerning death. J Korean Soc Health Educ. 1990; 7(2):89–102.
20. Collett L, Lester D. The fear of death and the fear of dying. J Psychol. 1969; 72(2):179–181.
crossref
21. Frommelt KHM. The effects of death education on nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their families. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 1991; 8(5):37–43.
crossref
22. Wafaa GMA, Nahed SA. Nurses attitudes toward caring for dying patient in Mansoura university hospitals. JMBS. 2010; 1(1):16–23.
23. Rooda LA, Clements R, Jordan ML. Nurse's attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients. Oncol Nurs Forum. 1999; 26(10):1683–1687.
TOOLS
Similar articles