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A Comparison of the Understanding of the Withdrawal of Life-sustaining Treatment between Intensive Care Unit Nurses and Patients’ Family Members

Wonjeong Kim 1 JI SOOK KANG 2

1원광대학교병원
2원광대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to compare the differences in the understanding of the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment between intensive care unit nurses and patients’ family members. This study was a descriptive investigation using a structured questionnaire that was given to 91 ICU nurses and 76 family members of ICU patients in four university hospitals in South Korea. The data were collected from April to June, 2014 and the collected data were analyzed for frequency, percentage, χ2 test, and Fisher’s exact test using SPSS 20.0 program. The results of the study were as follows: 1) on the understanding of the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments, significant differences were found between nurses and patients’ family members; and 2) on the understanding of CPR, significant differences were found between nurses and patients’ family members regarding the following items: “the necessity of DNR,” “reason for the necessity of DNR,” “time to explain DNR,” “obligation to explain DNR for patients,” “performance of DNR for oneself,” and “the necessity for documented guidelines on DNR.” The results of this study suggest that there is a need for educational programs, especially for patients’ family members, regarding end-of-life care.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.