Purpose
Over 10% of intensive care unit (ICU) patients die; however, research aimed at assessing and improving the quality of their deaths remains scarce. This study investigated the impact of communication among healthcare professionals and person-centered care provided by ICU nurses on the quality of dying and death (QODD) experienced by ICU patients.
Methods
We measured general characteristics of ICU nurses, interprofessional communication, and person-centered care, and identified their impact on the quality of death for patients who died in the ICU. Participants consisted of 103 ICU nurses employed at two tertiary hospitals in South Korea. Data were collected between January and May 2023. Descriptive statistics, the t-test, analysis of variance, the Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS version 23.0.
Results
The mean QODD score was 44.73±21.26. QODD was positively correlated with openness (nurse-physician), understanding (nurse-physician), satisfaction (nurse-physician), and person-centered care. Factors significantly influencing QODD included nurse-physician communication, specifically understanding (β=.35, p=.010), and person-centered care (β=.19, p=.033), explaining 20.2% of the total variance (F=7.44, p<.001).
Conclusion
Improved communication among healthcare professionals and enhanced person-centered care are essential for improving the QODD for ICU patients. To achieve this, educational initiatives focusing on end-of-life care and communication training programs for healthcare professionals should be implemented.

Purpose
This study identified the experiences of self-reflection of a general ward nurses on the experience of end-of-life care for a patient who decided to suspend life-sustaining treatment and these experiences’ nature and meaning. Methods: van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology research method was used to qualitatively analyze the data. The study participants were 20 nurses with more than three years of working in general wards of tertiary general hospitals. Data were collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews and direct observation by the researchers. Social distancing was practiced in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing policy. Results: Four existences were identified from which 5 main and 14 sub-themes were derived. Five essential themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Hoping to return to an undamaged body and knowing the preciousness of the body, 2) Realize that the ability to care for the dying patient becomes more mature with the increase in career, 3) The death in the treatment room like a death on street makes regrettable the absence of end-of-life rooms, 4) Seeing the preciousness of my life in accompaniment with death, and 5) Become aware of growing up as a professional nurse. Conclusion: The results of this study provided an in-depth understanding of the end-of-life experiences of patients who decided to suspend life-sustaining treatment in general ward nurses. It can be used to develop end-of-life nursing education for nurses and students and develop nursing interventions for end-of-life patients.

Purpose
This study aimed to examine the effect of pain, anxiety, depression, perception dignity, and spiritual well-being on hospice patients’ attitudes toward dignified death. Methods: A total of 130 terminal cancer patients admitted to hospice ․ palliative care institutions in Korea participated in the study. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS Statistics 26.0. The assessment tools were the Brief Pain Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Perception of Dignity Scale, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale, and Attitudes toward Dignified Death Scale.
Results
The mean scores were as follows: 5.25 for pain, 11.98 for anxiety, 14.56 for depression, 22.12 for spiritual well-being, 14.38 for perception of dignity, and 93.12 for attitudes toward dignified death. The results of the hierarchical multiple analysis revealed that spiritual well-being (β=.36, p<.001) was predictive of the attitudes toward dignified death (R² =.13, p<.001).
Conclusion
Spiritual well-being is associated with hospice patients’ attitudes toward dignified death. The results highlight the necessity to develop effective nursing intervention programs that promote spiritual well-being for hospice patients’ attitudes toward dignified death.

Purpose
This study aimed to explore the level of well-dying in the elderly and identify the effects of social support, family support, and repulsion related nursing home on that.
Methods
The sample for this cross-sectional study consisted of 110 community-dwelling elderly and 103 nursing home residents. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from August to October 2019. SPSS/WIN 25.0 program was used to conduct statistical analyses, including descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, a one-way analysis of variance, and stepwise multiple linear regression.
Results
The mean score for well-dying was 2.63±0.28 (range 1~4). Well-dying had a statistically significant relationship with religion (t=5.56, p<.001), household income (F=14.04, p<.001) and perceived health status (F=44.59, p<.001). Furthermore, social support (r=.71, p<.001), family support (r=.42, p<.001), and repulsion related nursing home (r=-.56, p<.001) significantly correlated with well-dying. Stepwise multiple linear regression demonstrated that social support, repulsion related nursing home, and having a religion explained 62.0% of the variance in well-dying.
Conclusion
Social support was found to have the largest influence on well-dying, followed by repulsion related nursing home and religion. The results highlight the need to develop a detailed nursing intervention that considers these factors to promote well-dying in the elderly.

Citations

• Predictors of preparedness for well‐dying among middle‐aged and older adults
  Sun‐Ae Kim, Jae‐Sun An, Kyung‐Hyun Suh
  Psychogeriatrics.2024; 24(6): 1335.     CrossRef
• Factors Affecting the Well-dying Awareness of Lung Cancer Survivors
  Dong Sim Choi, Gie Ok Noh
  Asian Oncology Nursing.2023; 23(4): 225.     CrossRef
• The effects of ego integrity and readiness for death on the preferences of care near the end-of-life of hospitalized older adults in long-term care hospitals: A cross-sectional correlation study
  Jangmi Baek, Jun-Ah Song
  Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2023; 25(2): 185.     CrossRef
• Understanding Cultural Beliefs of a Good Death by Older People in South Korea: An Integrative Review of the Literature
  Kyoungsun Yun, Minjeong Jo, Yunji Lee
  Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Effect of Life Satisfaction on Depression among Childless Married Couples: A Cross-Sectional Study
  Ju-Young Ha, Hyo-Jin Park
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2022; 19(4): 2055.     CrossRef
• A qualitative study of the first batch of medical assistance team’s first-hand experience in supporting the nursing homes in Wuhan against COVID-19
  Xiu-Fen Yang, Meng-qi Li, Lu-lu Liao, Hui Feng, Si Zhao, Shuang Wu, Ping Yin, Giovanni Ottoboni
  PLOS ONE.2021; 16(4): e0249656.     CrossRef
• Subjective Perception of Long-Term Care Facilities in Home-Dwelling Older Adults: A Q Methodological Study
  Eun Ho Ha
  Korean Journal of Adult Nursing.2021; 33(3): 269.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to provide basic data by surveying the literature for the past fifteen years (2001-2015). The focus of the search was death anxiety among the elderly.
METHODS
Sixty-two published works including graduate theses were selected for the Meta-analysis.
RESULTS
Study results showed that variables related to familial factors were the most often cited in the review of the manuscripts as relevant to death anxiety among the elderly. Specifically family support was most important. The other variables reported in the literature review were classified into four other groupings: social, physical, psychological, and demographics. The significant variable in the social grouping was religious activities, health promotion in the physical grouping and ego integrity in the psychological group.
CONCLUSION
This study could provide effect sizes of variables based on materials, which are needed to make an intervention program that is related to death anxiety of the elderly. Since this study identified major variables as significant to death anxiety, several distinctions within these variables can be further studied as these relate to death anxiety.

Citations

• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety among Rural Elderly
  Hyenam Hwang
  Journal of Health Informatics and Statistics.2019; 44(2): 111.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety in Community-Dwelling Elderly: Based on the Ecology Theory
  Yeonha Kim, Minju Kim
  The Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care.2019; 22(1): 30.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety in Elderly Patients in Long-term Care Hospitals
  Mi Suk Lee, Hee Jung Choi
  Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2016; 18(3): 138.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
This study aimed at understanding the correlation between self-esteem, death anxiety, and spiritual wellbeing in university students.
METHODS
Cross-sectional method was used 671 students in South Korea. This study used the Self-esteem developed by Rosenberg, the Fear of Death Scale revised by Lester and Abdel-Khalek, and Spiritual wellbeing developed by Paloutzian and Ellison.
RESULTS
Relationships between self-esteem, death anxiety, and spiritual wellbeing revealed an inverse correlation between self-esteem and death anxiety, and a direct correlation between self-esteem and spiritual wellbeing.
CONCLUSION
In order for students of establishing identity to lead a healthy life, there is a need for studies aiming at developing, implementing, and evaluating the results of consultation and education programs for maintaining spiritual wellbeing such as psychological counseling and logotherapy at the university or regional community level.

Citations

• THE EFFECT OF SPIRITUALITY ON DEATH-RELATED DEPRESSION, DEATH ANXIETY, AND LONELINESS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS
  Zafer Korkmaz, İlhan Çiçek, Rıdvan Söğüt
  İnönü Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksek Okulu Dergisi.2024; 12(3): 872.     CrossRef
• Spiritual Wellbeing of International Students: A New Zealand Case Study
  Mandeep Bhullar, Qilong Zhang, Ke Jiang
  Journal of Studies in International Education.2024; 28(3): 482.     CrossRef
• Prevalence of death anxiety and its related factors in the population of eastern Iran: a cross-sectional study in the era of COVID-19
  Hossein Bakhtiari-Dovvombaygi, Mohammadreza Askari, Mohammad Rahimkhani, Mahboobeh Abdollahi, Mohammadreza Baladastian, Amir Alipour, Mohammad Namazinia
  Frontiers in Public Health.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Examining nurses’ death anxiety and attitudes toward caring for dying patients: a cross-sectional study in Turkey
  Figen İncİ, Kezban Koraş Sözen
  Psychology, Health & Medicine.2024; 29(8): 1437.     CrossRef
• “Do Not Protect Us, Train Us.”—Swiss Healthcare Students’ Attitudes Toward Caring for Terminally Ill Patients
  Typhaine Maïko Juvet, Marc-Antoine Bornet, Jean-François Desbiens, Diane Tapp, Pauline Roos
  OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying.2023; 86(4): 1190.     CrossRef
• The Relationship Between Authenticity and Death Anxiety in Cancer Patients
  Faezeh Nazari, Zohreh Khoshnood, Parvin Mangolian Shahrbabaki
  OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying.2023; 86(3): 966.     CrossRef
• Psychometric Characteristics of the Persian Version of the Revised Fear of Personal Death Scale
  Azadeh Saffarzadeh, Abbas Rahiminezhad, Hadi Bahrami Ehsan, Azam Noferesti, Nazila Shahmansouri, Keyvan Salehi
  Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.2023;[Epub]     CrossRef
• How do digital lives affect resident mental health in the digital era? Empirical evidence based on Chinese general social survey
  Yan Chen, Mengyang Wei, Jaime Ortiz
  Frontiers in Public Health.2022;[Epub]     CrossRef
• The relationship between death anxiety and attitudes toward the care of dying patient in nursing students
  Eylem Pasli Gurdogan, Ezgi Kınıcı, Berna Aksoy
  Psychology, Health & Medicine.2019; 24(7): 843.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing the Death Anxiety of the Elderly Living Alone
  Young-Eun Kwon, Seon-Young Kim
  Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2016; 17(3): 262.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to explore the factors contributing to death anxiety among elders through family support, ageism experience, loneliness and helplessness.
METHODS
The participants were 155 elders who lived in S city. The data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire in elders over age 65. In addition, their levels of death anxiety, family support, ageism experience, loneliness, helplessness and death anxiety were measured using a likert scale Data analysis using a t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis with the SPSS 20 program.
RESULTS
Significant differences were found in the levels of perceived death anxiety between the variables affecting death anxiety in elders. Pearson's Correlation were found family support (p<.001), ageism experience (p<.001), loneliness (p<.001) and helplessness (p<.001) with death anxiety.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that such variables should be considered for decreasing death anxiety by family support, ageism experience, loneliness and helplessness in elders.

Citations

• Meaning of Work, Ageism Experience, Social Exclusion, and Quality of Life in Working Older Adults
  Ju Young Park
  Journal of Gerontological Nursing.2025; 51(5): 46.     CrossRef
• Factors associated with attitudes toward death and dying in the second half of life: A scoping review
  Alana Officer, Matthew Prina, Andreea Badache, Barbara Broers, Sam Gnanapragasam, Sophie Pautex
  Death Studies.2024; : 1.     CrossRef
• YAŞLILARDA ÖLÜM KAYGISI İLE HASTALIK ÖZELLİKLERİ, YALNIZLIK VE SOSYAL DESTEK ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİLER
  Serpil GÜNDOĞAN, Aysun BABACAN GÜMÜŞ
  STED / Sürekli Tıp Eğitimi Dergisi.2023;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Controversies in terror management theory research and its implications for research on the psychology of death
  Xianghan MENG, Qiang LI, Yanbang ZHOU, Jin WANG
  Advances in Psychological Science.2021; 29(3): 492.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety among Rural Elderly
  Hyenam Hwang
  Journal of Health Informatics and Statistics.2019; 44(2): 111.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety in Community-Dwelling Elderly: Based on the Ecology Theory
  Yeonha Kim, Minju Kim
  The Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care.2019; 22(1): 30.     CrossRef
• Factors Influencing Death Anxiety in Elderly Patients in Long-term Care Hospitals
  Mi Suk Lee, Hee Jung Choi
  Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2016; 18(3): 138.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of death experienced by medical and nursing students through end-of-life care practice.
METHODS
Data were collected by in-depth interviews with twelve (six nursing and six medical) students. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
This findings were analyzed in three areas: 'feeling from the word of death', 'color association of death', and 'relation between life and death'. Results were three major themes and sixteen categories from the analysis. Three major themes include 'reality of uncertain death', 'have to leave, and 'new perception about death'. Sixteen categories include 'being well', 'fear', 'unknown', 'boundless', 'being with', 'out of sight', 'new start', 'go back to', 'place going by itself', 'place to meet with', 'being transformed', 'a sense of futility', 'the same point', 'a different point', 'continuous line', and 'a crossroad'.
CONCLUSION
The findings suggest a number of themes that nursing and medical students reported about the end of life experiences that could be explored as a way of improving end of life care.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to analyze attitude toward dignified dying of Korean students majoring in human service area.
METHODS
The Q-methodology which provides a method of analyzing the subjectivity of each item was used. The 34 selected Q-statements from each of 38 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL PC program.
RESULTS
Four types of attitude toward dignified dying from the subjects were identified. Type I is an expression type for happy emotion, Type II is a dislike type for life prolongation, Type III is a pursuit type for relationship improvement, and Type IV is a perception type for family presence.
CONCLUSION
The results of the study indicate that integrating multi-disciplinary curriculum development related to dignified dying and death education for students majoring in human service area are needed.

PURPOSE
This study was designed to systematically explore and elicit information about terminally ill cancer patients' and primary family caregivers' subjectivity of death.
METHOD
Using Q-methodology, 21 terminally ill cancer patients and 19 primary family caregivers sorted 40 statements during personal interviews.
RESULTS
The results of this study show that terminally ill cancer patients have four factors ('Attachment to life', 'Hope for heaven', 'Resignation to reality', 'Avoidance of pain') of response and primary caregivers have four factors('Dependence on religion', 'Faithfulness to reality', 'Obedience to fate', 'Agony of reality'). Comparing the subjectivities of death of terminally ill cancer patients and primary family caregivers, 'Hope for heaven' and 'Dependence on religion' reveal the similarities of their outlook. On the other hand, 'Attachment to life', 'Resignation to reality', 'Avoidance of pain', 'Faithfulness to reality', 'Obedience to fate', 'Agony of reality' reveals different aspects of their outlook. The group of terminally ill cancer patients and their families divided into four types. Type A was 'Attachment to life and Agony of reality', type B was 'Attachment to life and Obedience to fate', type C was 'Hope for heaven and Dependence on religion' and type D was 'Resignation to reality and Faithfulness to reality'. The positive group was C or 'Hope for heaven and Dependence on religion'.
CONCLUSION
There are significant differences found in the subjective structure of death among terminally ill cancer patients and primary family caregivers. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an individualized nursing intervention for terminally ill cancer patients and family caregivers.

PURPOSE
To understand the meaning of death seen by nursing students through collage art works. METHOD: The qualitative research method and the content analysis were used. The text were collage and related essays written by 42 senior nursing students about the impressions on death through collage art works. RESULT: Statements were classified into three categories and seventeen themes. The three categories include 'efinitions of death', 'feelings about the death', and 'attitudes about the death and the dying patients'. CONCLUSION: It is shown that participants recognize their position as nursing student, although they may not escape the fear of death, will learn to deal with death, and the dying in a suitably professional manner. In this respect, the study is considered to be helpful for the students in learning the knowledge and information which are needed for hospice nursing care more effectively.

PURPOSE
To understand the meaning of death seen by nursing students through art works. METHOD: The qualitative research method and the content analysis were used. The text were essays written by 42 senior nursing students about their impressions on death through art works. RESULT: Statements were classified into six categories and twenty six themes. The six categories include definitions of death, feelings about the death of a main character, responses to the death of the main character, feelings of significant others about the death of the main character, feelings of participants in this study, and oaths of the participants in this study. CONCLUSION: It is shown that participants recognize their position as nursing students, although they may not escape the fear of death, will learn to cope with death, and the dying in a suitably professional manner. In this respect, the study is considered to be helpful for the students in learning the knowledge and information which are needed for hospice nursing care more effectively.