Objective To describe the difficulties perceived by nursing staff in the delivery of end-of-life care to critically ill patients within intensive care units (ICU). Method A descriptive phenomenological qualitative study was performed. A purposeful and snowball sampling of nursing staff with at least 1 year's previous experience working in an ICU was conducted. Twenty-two participants were enrolled. Data collection strategies included in-depth unstructured and semi-structured interviews and researcher's field notes. Data were analysed using the Giorgi proposal. Results Three themes were identified: academic-cultural barriers, related to the care orientation of the ICU and lack of training in end of life care; architectural-structural barriers, related to the lack of space and privacy for the patient and family in the last moments of life; and psycho-emotional barriers, related to the use of emotional detachment as a strategy applied by nursing staff. Conclusions Nursing staff need proper training on end-of-life care through the use of guidelines or protocols and the development of coping strategies, in addition to a change in the organisation of the ICU dedicated to the terminal care of critically ill patients and family support.
CITATION STYLE
Velarde-García, J. F., Luengo-González, R., González-Hervías, R., González-Cervantes, S., Álvarez-Embarba, B., & Palacios-Ceña, D. (2017). Dificultades para ofrecer cuidados al final de la vida en las unidades de cuidados intensivos. La perspectiva de enfermería. Gaceta Sanitaria, 31(4), 299–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2016.11.006
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