Intensive care nurses' perceptions of good death and end-of-life care attitudes and behaviors: a descriptive and correlational quantitative study.

backgroundIntensive care units are technically and emotionally complex environments where nurses frequently witness the end of life. In this process, nurses’ perceptions of good death and their attitudes and behaviors toward end-of-life care directly affect the quality of care provided. Understanding these relationships is important for improving the quality of holistic end-of-life care.

methodsThis descriptive and correlational study was conducted to examine the relationships between intensive care nurses’ perceptions of good death and their attitudes and behaviors toward end-of-life care and the factors affecting them. The sample size was determined with the sample size calculation formula used for situations with known populations and 136 intensive care nurses selected by random sampling method were included in the study. The study was conducted in Trabzon, Türkiye, between March and October 2022. Data were collected using the Nurse Information Form, the Scale of Attitudes and Behaviors of Intensive Care Nurses Toward End-of-Life Care, and the Good Death Scale. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics 23.

resultsA moderate, positive, and statistically significant relationship was found between perceptions of good death and end-of-life care attitudes and behaviors (r = 0.425; p < 0.001). As the levels of those perceptions increased within the psychosocial-spiritual and clinical subdimensions, end-of-life care attitudes changed positively. However, no significant relationship was found for the personal control subdimension. The attitudes of nurses who encountered dying patients more frequently and were physiologically or psychologically affected by this process were found to be more positive. While the duration of professional experience positively affected clinical perceptions, intensive care experience did not create a statistical difference. No significant relationship was observed between sociodemographic variables and the outcome variables.

conclusionThis study revealed that intensive care nurses’ perceptions of good death are directly reflected in end-of-life care processes. The findings show that the concept of “good death” should be addressed not only clinically but also within the framework of its ethical, cultural, and emotional aspects, emphasizing the need for experience-based, multifaceted approaches in nursing education and in-service programs.