When cultural values meets professional values: a qualitative study of chinese nurses’ attitudes and experiences concerning death

Abstract

Background In China, there is a culture of death-avoidance and death-denying. Influenced by this distinctive socio-cultural views surrounding death, nurses often find it challenging to handle death and care for dying patients. This study explores the nurses’ attitudes and coping strategies concerning death and caring for dying patients in a cultural context of death taboo. Methods This research is a qualitative study that employs in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nurses from two major hospitals in Guangzhou, China. Overall, 28 nurses from four departments with high patient death rate were recruited and interviewed. All of the interviews were analyzed thematically. Results The nurses who participated in this study expressed attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients from both a personal dimension and a professional dimension. The personal dimension is influenced by traditional culture and societal attitudes towards death and dying, while their professional dimension is congruent with the nursing and palliative care values concerning death and dying. With an obvious discrepancy between these two dimensions, Chinese nurses adopt three strategies in their practice to solve this tension: boundary-drawing to separate their personal and professional life, complying with the existing cultural values at work, and constructing positive meanings for end-of-life care. Conclusion In a society that traditionally avoids making any reference to death, it is useful to reduce cultural taboo and construct positive meanings in end-of-life care, death education and the development of palliative care. Meanwhile, nurses also need institutional support, education and training to transition smoothly from a novice to a mature professional when handling patient death.

The readiness and associate factors of implementing living wills among healthcare providers in Shenzhen: a cross-sectional study

“…However, 18.8% HCPs in our study were reluctant to promote living wills to patients and their families. In Chinese culture, talking about death is deemed as bring unluck to the family, thus HCPs usually feel psychological pressure when discussing end-of-life issues with patients and their families [29]. Additionally, the lial piety belief requires family members should try their best to save the life of the patients rather than enhancing the quality of life.…”

Psychometric validation of the Chinese versions of the quality of communication questionnaires for cancer patients and their family caregivers

“…Assessing the quality of communication about death between physicians, patients, and patients’ caregivers may currently be inappropriate in China. The deficiency in death education in China is influenced by the traditional taboo surrounding death in Chinese culture [ 33 ]. The reluctance or discomfort in discussing death and dying in China signifies a broader challenge in effective communication about end-of-life issues.…”

Effect of illness perception on predicting breast cancer‐related lymphedema risk management behaviours among breast cancer patients: A comparison between dimensions and profiles

“…Nevertheless, the patients had difficulty distinguishing whether BCRL was acute, chronic or cyclical, possibly because BCRL did not occur in our population. In China, there is a culture of avoiding and hiding bad news (Tse et al, 2003; Tu et al, 2022). Education for patients at risk for BCRL may be implicit.…”