Living with death and dying: the experience of Taiwanese hospice nurses.
OBJECTIVE
To explore and describe the experiences of Taiwanese nurses who care for dying patients in hospices, a relatively recent healthcare option in Taiwan.


METHODS
Qualitative, hermeneutic, phenomenologic approach.


METHODS
Six hospices in central and southern Taiwan.


METHODS
14 Taiwanese hospice nurses.


METHODS
Interviews were audiotaped and analyzed with Colaizzi's guidelines.


METHODS
Caregiving experiences of Taiwanese hospice nurses.


RESULTS
Four main themes emerged from the analysis: entering the hospice specialty, managing everyday work, living with the challenges, and reaping the rewards. Three subthemes of managing everyday work were providing holistic, meaningful care through close relationships; confronting and managing negative beliefs about hospice; and managing the dying process.


CONCLUSIONS
The fundamental structure of the caregiving experiences of Taiwanese hospice nurses is a dynamic, multidimensional process that evolved over time. The hospice nurses demonstrated how they achieved balance in their daily nursing practice within the Taiwanese cultural context.


CONCLUSIONS
Improved end-of-life education for the Taiwanese public, nurses, and other healthcare professionals that includes hospice concepts is needed. Administrators should provide adequate support to encourage and empower their nursing staff in hospice settings.
Wu
Hung-Lan
HL
Nursing Department, Meiho Institute of Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan. whlangks@gmail.com
Volker
Deborah L
DL
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult