Intensive care nurses' experiences of end-of-life care

Purpose: To explore intensive care nurses' experiences of end-of-life care in adult intensive care units. Design and methods: An exploratory, descriptive qualitative approach was utilised. Purposive sampling method was used to select nurse participants (n =24) working at the selected intensive care units in the three academic affiliated, tertiary specialist hospitals in the Johannesburg and Pretoria regions, South Africa. Using a focus group guide, three focus group discussions were conducted. Data were analysed using the long-table approach (Krueger and Casey, 2000). Trustworthiness of the study was ensured by following the criteria set out by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Findings: Five major themes related to nurses' experiences of end-of-life care emerged. These included: difficulties we experience, discussion and decision making, support for patients, support for families and support for nurses. Conclusion: End-of-life care can be difficult and a challenging process. Nevertheless, this study has highlighted some of the interventions and support systems that could be incorporated for improved caring process. Whereas the dying patients and their families need to be continuously supported, critical care nurses too need to be taken care of for them to continue providing the best possible end-of-life care. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.