Nurses' Conceptions of Decision Making Concerning Life-Sustaining Treatment
The aim of this study was to describe nurses' conceptions of decision making with regard to life-sustaining treatment for dialysis patients. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 nurses caring for such patients at three hospitals. The interview material was subjected to qualitative c...
Published in: | Nursing ethics |
---|---|
Authors: | ; ; |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage
2008
|
In: |
Nursing ethics
|
Further subjects: | B
end-of-life decision making
B Nursing B interprofessional relationships B life-sustaining treatment B Dialysis B clinical ethics |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | The aim of this study was to describe nurses' conceptions of decision making with regard to life-sustaining treatment for dialysis patients. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 nurses caring for such patients at three hospitals. The interview material was subjected to qualitative content analysis. The nurses saw decision making as being characterized by uncertainty and by lack of communication and collaboration among all concerned. They described different ways of handling decision making, as well as insufficiency of physician—nurse collaboration, lack of confidence in physicians, hindrances to patient participation, and ambivalence about the role of patients' next of kin. Future research should test models for facilitating communication and decision making so that decisions will emerge from collaboration of all concerned. Nurses' role in decision making also needs to be discussed. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1477-0989 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Nursing ethics
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0969733007086014 |