Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Nursing Ethics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shih, F.-J.
Right arrow Articles by Lin, H.-R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shih, F.-J.
Right arrow Articles by Lin, H.-R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Death and Help Expected from Nurses when Dying

Fu-Jin Shih

National Yang-Ming University School of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan

Meei-Ling Gau

National Taipei College of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan

Yaw-Sheng Lin

National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan

Suang-Jing Pong

Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

Hung-Ru Lin

National Taipei College of Nursing, Taipei, Taiwan, hungru{at}mail1.ntcn.edu.tw

This project was undertaken to ascertain the perceptions of a group of Taiwan’s fourth-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) students regarding death and help expected from nurses during the dying process. Within the Chinese culture, death is one of the most important life issues. However, in many Chinese societies it is difficult for people to reveal their deepest feelings to their significant others or loved ones. It was in this context that this project was developed because little is known about how Taiwan’s nursing students perceive death and the dying process. Using an open-ended, self-report questionnaire, 110 senior BSN students recorded their thoughts on: (1) their fears before physical death; (2) afterlife destinations; and (3) the help they would expect from nurses when dying. The data were analyzed using a three-layer qualitative thematic analysis. The students’ reported needs during the dying process were directed towards three main goals: (1) help in reaching the ‘triple targets of individual life’; (2) help in facilitating in-depth support so that both the dying person and significant others can experience a blessed farewell; and (3) help in reaching a destination in the afterlife. The results support the belief of dying as a transition occurring when life weans itself from the mortal world and prepares for an afterlife.

Key Words: Chinese culture • perceptions of death • qualitative methods • senior BSN students • Taiwan’s culture • transitional dying process

Nursing Ethics, Vol. 13, No. 4, 360-375 (2006)
DOI: 10.1191/0969733006ne881oa
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?