Abstract

SEVILLA-CASADO, María  and  FERRE-GRAU, Carme. Social and health care Nurses' Anxiety with the death: data and meanings. Gerokomos [online]. 2013, vol.24, n.3, pp.109-114. ISSN 1134-928X.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S1134-928X2013000300003.

Introduction: the intense presence of the death at the social health environment can disturb the level of death anxiety in the professional, producing in him an emotional impact leading to repercussions on the care and on his life. The objectives of this research are to determine the level of anxiety before the death and to explore the triggers of fear and their meanings, in nurses of this area. Method: mixed quantitative / qualitative design. The study population was nurses from a social and health care centre in Tarragona, Spain. They answered the selected scales and were interviewed in depth. Quantitative analysis: measures of central tendency, dispersion and frequency tables (SPSS 15.0). The qualitative analysis follows the methodology of grounded theory. Results: the anxiety average score is 114.36 [SD (Standar Deviation) 15.35]. The highest values correspond to the proper dying process 30.09 (SD 3.96) and to the deaths of others 29.64 (SD 3.47). Nurses live the death of the other and think of his own, influenced by strong emotions that vary according to the "acceptance" and to the process evolution. They recognize the fears unchained by the care, accompanied them and affected their lives. Conclusions: the Social and health care assistance receives high levels of death anxiety for nurses. The loss of loved people and the associated pain at the process of dying are the most anxiogenic situations. They identify clearly their fears, without moving away of the care and seeking psycho-emotional support as a sign of professional identity. Partial results of this work were presented at XXVIII Mental Health Nursing National Congress. 1^st International Mental Health Nursing Conference. Tarragona 2011.

Keywords : Anxiety; death; nurses; care levels; emotions; grounded theory.

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