Hospice nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward the near-death experience

Abstract

I surveyed 60 hospice nurses regarding their knowledge and attitudes toward the near-death experience (NDE), using Thornburg's Near Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire. Most hospice nurses had previous work experience with an NDEr. Approximately half the nurses were knowledgeable about the NDE. All participants had a positive attitude toward near-death phenomena and toward caring for an NDEr. Rec ommendations include near-death phenomena inservice education for hospice nurses and inclusion of NDE content in nursing education programs.The near-death experience (NDE) is a topic of increasing controver sial concern, especially among paraprofessionals and health care pro fessionals providing holistic care to the terminally ill client. The NDE can be summarized as a close encounter with death having sequential components that culminate in a spiritual event. Thus this spiritual event encompasses physiological involvement, a mental meta morphosis, and an apparent encounter with a spiritual being (Moody, 1975;Ring, 1984;Moody and Perry, 1988

Deathbed phenomena reported by patients in palliative care: clinical opportunities and responses

“…Other literature has supported this, highlighting the emotional or spiritual issues that may be raised following DBP, the impact of DBP, and that training and knowledge can help health professionals to support patients and/or families with issues that are not always understood, and with which clinicians are not always confident in responding to. (Barnett 1991, Serdahely et al 1988, Lawrence and Repede 2012. Barbato and colleagues (1999) found that the issue of DBP disclosure was problematic, with none of the 10 subjects in the study sharing their experience with a health care professional.…”

An assessment of physicians' knowledge of and attitudes toward the near-death experience.

“…Literature regarding studies that assessed knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals toward the NDE is limited. There have been three studies that focused on various nursing specialties' atti tudes toward NDE (Barnett, 1991;Oakes, 1981;Thornburg, 1988); one study that assessed psychologists' knowledge of and attitudes to ward the NDE (Walker and Russell, 1989); and two studies to inves tigate the knowledge and attitudes of clergy regarding the NDE (Royse, 1985;Bechtel, Chen, Pierce, and Walker, 1992). There has been no study that assessed physicians' knowledge of and attitudes toward near-death experiences.…”

Development of the knowledge and attitudes about near-death experiences scale (KANDES).

“…These views and reactions reflect a negative attitude toward NDEs and NDErs that seems to derive from incomplete or inaccurate knowledge about the phenomenon and those who experience it. Despite the importance of this topic for thousands of NDErs' wellbeing, a review of the professional literature revealed only six published studies in English of health professionals' knowledge of and attitudes about NDEs: four involving medical health providers, three of nurses (Barnett, 1991;Bucher, Wimbush, Hardie, & Hayes, 1997;Cunico, 2001) and one of physicians (Moore, 1994); one involving psychologists (Walker & Russell, 1989); one involving clergy (Bechtel, Chen, Pierce, & Walker, 1992); one involving a mixture of physicians, nurses, and pastoral healthcare providers (Goedhart, 2011); and none involving counselors or other health professionals (Foster et al, 2009).…”

“…In most published studies of knowledge and attitudes about NDEs, researchers either used or adapted Thornburg's instrument (Barnett, 1991;Bechtel et al, 1992;Bucher et al, 1997;Cunico, 2001;Moore, 1994;Walker & Russell, 1989). In a recent study of Dutch healthcare professionals' general and care-specific attitudes toward NDEs, Sandra Goedhart (2011) found Thornburg's instrument to be dated and of questionable validity (p. 8).…”