Caring for Dying Children: A Comparative Study of Nurses??? Experiences in Greece and Hong Kong

Abstract

The purpose of this transcultural descriptive study was to explore the subjective experiences of 63 oncology and critical care nurses who provide care to dying children in Greece and Hong Kong. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 39 Greek and 24 Chinese nurses who described their experiences and responses to the dying process and death of children. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, and nurses' responses were compared for their work setting (oncology versus critical care) and their ethnic background (Greek versus Chinese). Findings revealed that most nurses experience a sense of helplessness when caring for a dying patient and difficulties in their communication with the child and parents during the terminal phase of the disease. The large majority acknowledge that the impending or actual death of a patient elicits a grieving process, which is characterized by a fluctuation between experiencing and avoiding loss and grief. Greek and Chinese nurses differ in their expression of their grief and how they attribute meaning to childhood death. Despite the suffering caused by multiple deaths, nurses report significant rewards from caring for chronically and acutely ill children, and the majority are satisfied with their job, despite the difficulties they encounter, in both countries, mostly as a result of shortage in personnel and cooperation problems with physicians.

Home-Based Palliative Care for Children With Incurable Cancer: Long-term Perspectives of and Impact on General Practitioners

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies in health care professionals [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] . Liben and colleagues previously reported that healthcare professionals often rely upon colleagues for support more than their family and friends 45 , whereas we found that GPs generally receive support from own family members and-to a lesser extent-their colleagues.…”

“…Several studies reported how providing pediatric palliative care affects health care professionals [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] . Thus, we hypothesized that providing home-based palliative care to a child with incurable cancer is likely a challenging task for many GPs.…”

O processo de morrer e a morte no enfoque dos profissionais de enfermagem de UTIs

“…Um significado marcado pelo crescimento, pela paz, luz, força interior, beleza, por sentimentos de amor e ampliação da consciência de si e do mundo. Devemos viver intensamente até o momento da morte, pois ao separarmos o processo do morrer da vida deixamos de viver antes da morte (20) .…”

Relación entre apoyo en duelo y el síndrome de Burnout en profesionales y técnicos de la salud infantil

“…Situación que se manifiesta por problemas de salud físico, psico emocionales y mentales, afectando a la persona en su totalidad, lo que puede verse asociado a depresión, ansiedad, desmotivación, baja autoestima, tendencia al aislamiento, entre otros. Esta situación se observa con mayor frecuencia en funcionarios de unidades de alta complejidad como son oncología y cuidados intensivos pediátricos 14,15 , especialmente en funcionarios con menor formación 6,16 . En ambas unidades se atiende a niños con cáncer, que requiere manejo de tratamientos prolongados, intensivos y de alta toxicidad, lo que lleva a una creciente demanda asistencial 17 , sumándose a esto factores organizacionales tales como el cansancio por carencia de personal, déficit comunicacional, toma de decisiones subrogadas, conflictos de rol, sistema de turnos complejos, incompatibilidad entre las vida laboral y personal, y menor tiempo de descanso 18 .…”