Autori: Hiroko Ito

Ustanova zaposlenja: Japan

Ključne riječi: Familie’s end-of-life decision, nurse’s mood

Kongres/Simpozij: ”5. Međunarodni kongres HDMSARIST-a” i ”8. Međunarodni kongres WFCCN-a”

Mjesto i vrijeme održavanja: Šibenik, 12.-15. travnja 2012. godine

Background: Nurses working in intensive care units (ICUs) are expected to provide appropriate end-of-life care such as helping families stay close to their loved one and review the life story of the patient. However, some ICU nurses are reluctant to provide such care. Negative mood is considered one of the factors of unprofessional behavior such as disregarding those families.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare nurses’ mood administering Scenarios which whether family accepts or refuses withdrawal of life sustaining therapy.

Methods: A self-reporting anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 252 nurses with experience of three or more years in ICUs from sixteen intensive care units in a large urban area located in central Japan from August to October 2009. The questionnaire included demographic data, mood inventory and a scenario that described a case whose family accepted or refused to withdraw life sustaining therapy. Participants were asked to read either scenario of acceptance case (A group) or refusal case (R group) and recall the similar cases. T test was used to compare mood between A group and R group.


Results: Data from 66 nurses in A group and 49 nurses in R group were analyzed. T test showed significant differences between mood scores of A group and R group. R group nurses were found higher scores than A group for negative mood sub scales such as depressive mood, anxious mood, fatigue, and tension and excitement.(Depressive mood, anxious mood and fatigue p<0.05,tension and excitement p<0.01)

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate a possibility that continuing life sustaining therapy increases ICU nurse’ negative mood.