Greek Nurses Attitudes towards Death

Abstract

Introduction: Several studies explore the attitudes of nurses caring for dying patients but this is the first oneexploring Greek nurses’ attitude toward death.Purpose/Objectives: To assess how Greek nurses feel about death and examine any relationships between theirattitudes and demographic factors.Design: Descriptive quantitative. The sample comprised of 150 hospital nurses (response rate 64%).Method: Voluntary and anonymous completion of the Death Attitude Profile–Revised (DAP-R), and ademographic questionnaire. The Death Attitude Profile–Revised (DAP-R) (Wong, Reker, & Gesser, 1994) is a32-item scale that uses a seven-point Likert scale to measure respondents' attitudes toward death. Demographicdata, including gender, age, previous experience working with terminally ill patients, work setting (inpatientversus outpatient), years practising as an RN were collected. No identifying information was collected from theparticipants, ensuring the results were anonymous.Results: 82% of respondents were female with a mean age of 35.54 years (19 min 48 max). The mean nursingexperience was 12.1 years. Average scores on the DAP-R sub-scales ranged from 2.90 (escape sub-scale) to 5.63(neutral sub-scale). Statistically significant relationships were noted among gender, and scores on the DAP-R.Nursing experience and age were the variables most likely to predict nurses' attitudes toward death. Nurses withspecific education on palliative care had less difficulty talking about death and dying. The existence ofHospital-based teams (known as palliative care teams, supportive care teams, or symptom assessment teams) hadstatistically significant relationship with fear of death and neutral acceptance scoresConclusions: In Greek hospitals nurses with more work experience tended to have more positive attitudes towarddeath and caring for dying patients.