Nurses´ Attitudes Towards Dying and Death

Abstract

Introduction. Death means the irreversible termination of the organism’s vital activities. Dying presents an irreversible state of an incurable disease from which death is expected in due time. The experience of meaning in life is defined as the degree to which an individual understands and sees significance in his life, how and to what extent he feels purpose in life. Aim. The aim of this research was to determine the role of demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, religiosity), their relationship with the experience of meaning in the life of nurses, and the relationship between the attitudes of nurses towards death and dying with the experience of meaning in life. Methods. The research was conducted in the period from May to June 2022. The survey was composed of three parts, and was posted on the Facebook social network in the group named Nurses together. A total of 240 participants took part in the research, of which 185 were female nurses and 55 were male nurses, with an average age of 33.05 years (SD=10.10). The instruments that were used in the research were the Purpose in Life Test and Death Attitude Profile – Revised. Results. The obtained results do not indicate that women perceive their life as more meaningful compared to men. Also, healthcare professionals with a higher level of education perceive their life to be significantly more meaningful compared to healthcare professionals with secondary education. Regarding the relationship between the experience of meaning in life and some concepts of acceptance of death, it has been proven that a greater experience of meaning in life can be found in respondents who consider death as a natural process of the journey towards the afterlife. The degree of religiosity was not significantly related to the perception of the meaning of life.Conclusion. Further research is needed to investigate the determinants of mortality in order to more scientifically determine the perception of the experience of meaning in life and attitudes towards death and dying among nurses. The importance of such research is reflected in the effort to raise awareness of the usefulness of the experience of meaning in life in the complete functioning of the individual and the quality of life.