Kurdistan Nurses’ Feelings and Experiences About Patients’ Death in ICUs: A Case Study in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Abstract

Background: As members of the health care team in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), nurses play a vital role in caring for critically ill patients. The demands of caring in such an environment put the nurses under huge pressure, especially when their patients die. This qualitative study explores the feelings and experiences of Kurdish intensive care nurses providing care for dying patients in the ICU. Methods: This qualitative study used inductive content analysis. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 Kurdish registered nurses working in adult ICUs of Rezgary and Hawler Teaching hospitals (Erbil, Iraq).