Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Anna Valdez

Abstract

Experiencing a patient death can directly affect the well-being of health care professionals; however, this phenomenon and the effects of patients' deaths are not well understood in the transport setting. Transport nurses work in unique settings with complex patients and significant autonomy in determining the plan of care; therefore, the experiences of other health care professionals may not be applicable in this environment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of transport nurses who have experienced patient death using Husserl's life-world and phenomenological philosophies as a theoretical framework. Semistructured interviews were completed with 8 transport nurses who had experienced a patient death in their care using video-conferencing and verbatim transcription of the interviews. Data analysis was manually coded and categorized into themes based on Moustaka's modification of the Van Kaam methods of analysis of phenomenological data. Key findings included 5 themes. Findings from this study indicate that patient death, particularly unexpected death, takes an emotional toll on transport nurses. Most transport nurses indicated that they did not have formal debriefing or support from the transport program following patient death. Transport nurses relied on their partners for feedback and support following patient death. Recommendations based on this research include promoting education regarding the psychosocial effects of death in the transport environment and formal debriefing following an unexpected death. Results from this study can be used to promote positive social change by improving the experiences of transport providers following a patient death, which may lead to improved retention and nurse satisfaction.

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