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Nursing discharge summaries of deceased patients with respiratory diseases
Author(s) -
Akazawa Yoko,
Satoh Hiroaki,
Takiguchi Kazuyo,
Yamashita Yuko T,
Sekizawa Kiyohisa
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of nursing practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1440-172X
pISSN - 1322-7114
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-172x.2002.00378.x
Subject(s) - medicine , feeling , hospital discharge , anxiety , nursing , intensive care medicine , family medicine , psychiatry , psychology , social psychology
To explore how nurses feel about deceased patients and end‐of‐life care, the nursing discharge summaries of 115 sequential patients who died in the respiratory division of a Japanese university hospital were reviewed. When compared to discharge summaries of patients with non‐malignant illness, a significantly higher percentage of discharge summaries of those with malignant illnesses documented support from family members ( P = 0.0166), patient's hope for cure ( P = 0.0206), and patient anxiety ( P = 0.0258). As difficult situations stay with nurses as memories, it is important for both new graduates and skilled nurses to document their feelings in difficult clinical situations.