Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Leslie Hussey

Abstract

Nurses provide comfort care for individuals who are at the end of life and reside in the long-€term care environment. However, how nurses provide comfort care to those who are dying and nurses' perceptions about providing comfort care are not known. The purpose of this phenomenological study, guided by Kolcaba's theory of comfort, was to examine nurses' lived experiences of comfort care among residents at the end of life in long-term care facilities. The research questions were designed to elicit rich data about the lived experiences of nurses in providing comfort care to dying residents to find out factors that help nurses determine what comfort measures to implement and what the concept of comfort means to nurses. Interviews were conducted with 13 nurses who provided care to patients at end of life. Date were transcribed each recorded interview into a Word document coding then used NVivo 12 to organize the codes. Study findings reflected that nurses' experiences included being emotionally drained, being part of a peaceful transition, feeling ambivalent regarding use of pain medication at the end of life, and being vigilant at recognizing which comfort measures to implement at the end of life. The findings may be used to inform nurses that their experiences with residents at the end of life are shared by other nurses and to help them design plans of care for end-of-€life symptom management, which can effect positive social change. Further study is needed to gather lived experiences of other members of the healthcare team, such as the physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nursing assistants, and social workers, and to explore perspectives on endo of life care from nurses from different cultures.

Download

Included in

Nursing Commons

Share

 
COinS