title: Evaluation of residents' thoughts about giving the news of death.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess behaviours and attitudes of residents toward giving news of death in emergency department and other departments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted between 1st and 7th December, 2012, in an urban hospital in Ankara, Turkey. It used a questionnarie that was filled by 100 residents from different disciplines of medicine. Categorical variables were analysed with Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests and continuous variables were analysed with Mann Whitney test. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most difficult cases to notify were those of unexpected and sudden deaths (n = 51; 51%) followed by deaths of children (n = 36; 36%). While 60% (n = 60) of the study group reported a need for training in this area, but there was no association between having difficulty in notifying a death and expressing the need for training (p = 0.187). Residents who had difficulty in notifying death informed the patient's close ones more often during resuscitation (p = 0.049) and requested for security staff more often during the final briefing compared with the group that did not express having difficulty (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Notifying death is still a challenging issue in medicine. Instead of educational efforts, security measures may be more beneficial and comforting for residents who have difficulty in conveying the news.
authors.forename: Gulhan Kurtoglu
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Nurettin Ozgur
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Gul Pamukçu
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Gunaydin
authors.forename: Zeynep Saral
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Tugba Atmaca
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Temrel
authors.forename: Alp
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sener
authors.forename: Havvwa Sahin
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kavakli
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003643:Death; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies