Coping Mechanisms of Nurses Facing the Death of Pediatric Patients : A Literature Review
Dinda, Linda; Edwards, Melina; Mikkonen, Lilli (2017)
Dinda, Linda
Edwards, Melina
Mikkonen, Lilli
Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017061413501
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017061413501
Tiivistelmä
In 2015, 5.9 million children died worldwide. Although nurses face the death of both young and old patients regularly, the death of a pediatric patient is often perceived unfair and
unexpected. Nurses struggle to deal with the death of a child patient, as it has physical, psychological, emotional and behavioral impacts on them. Additionally, this may have a
negative impact on the outcomes of care. Yet, little research exists on the coping mechanisms of nurses.
The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ coping mechanisms when facing the death of a pediatric patient. The purpose was to provide information on how to encounter the
death of a child patient and learn to acknowledge the idea of it. This was intended to provide information that could be used in educating future nurses and nurses working in various
fields.
The study was implemented as a literature review. The data was searched using the following two databases: Cinahl and JYKDOK. Overall, eleven articles were chosen to be reviewed.
Content analysis was applied in the analysis of the data. Three main categories were generated: social support, institutional support and personal coping strategies.
The applicability of these results might vary according to the individual and the nursing settings. Therefore, the results indicated the need for further research to determine what kinds of coping mechanisms would be best applicable for each particular nursing setting.
unexpected. Nurses struggle to deal with the death of a child patient, as it has physical, psychological, emotional and behavioral impacts on them. Additionally, this may have a
negative impact on the outcomes of care. Yet, little research exists on the coping mechanisms of nurses.
The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ coping mechanisms when facing the death of a pediatric patient. The purpose was to provide information on how to encounter the
death of a child patient and learn to acknowledge the idea of it. This was intended to provide information that could be used in educating future nurses and nurses working in various
fields.
The study was implemented as a literature review. The data was searched using the following two databases: Cinahl and JYKDOK. Overall, eleven articles were chosen to be reviewed.
Content analysis was applied in the analysis of the data. Three main categories were generated: social support, institutional support and personal coping strategies.
The applicability of these results might vary according to the individual and the nursing settings. Therefore, the results indicated the need for further research to determine what kinds of coping mechanisms would be best applicable for each particular nursing setting.