Aims The aim was to explore nurses’ experiences of caring for and accompanying patients dying without the presence of family during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design A qualitative descriptive design was used. Methods A purposive sample of registered nurses, caring for dying patients in Italian health‐care settings during the COVID‐19 pandemic, were selected. To capture a broad range of experiences, a maximum variety of participants about workplace, age, gender and work experience were included. A total of 31 nurses agreed to participate in the study; 28 participants were female; participants were aged 41 on average (range 25–63 years) and worked in hospitals and nursing homes in the Northern and Central Italian regions. Six focus groups were conducted from August to December 2020 through Microsoft Teams, reaching data saturation. The transcripts were analysed through inductive content analysis. The COREQ checklist was followed for study reporting. Results Four main categories emerged describing nurses’ experiences: hugely increased deaths in time of COVID‐19; ensuring physical, emotional, interpersonal and spiritual care for dying patients and supporting their families despite difficulties; ensuring care procedures of patients’ bodies after death and psychological consequences of caring for dying people during the pandemic. Conclusion Registered nurses provided physical, spiritual and emotional care to dying patients during the pandemic, despite limited resources and knowledge, standing in for relatives who were not allowed to visit them; the experiences of caring for dying patients in the absence of the family caused emotional distress in nurses. Impact Health‐care systems should develop guidelines aiming to meet the psychological needs of dying people in case of restrictions on patients’ family visits. Health‐care administrators should offer services to support the grieving process of relatives who cannot accompany dying patients and to reduce emotional distress in nurses caring for dying patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.