How Do Oncology Nurses Cope With the Psychological Burden of Caring for Dying Patients?

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and most patients with cancer in South Korea die in hospitals. Oncology nurses experience physical, emotional, and occupational challenges associated with the psychological burden of caring for dying patients.

This study explored the coping strategies used by oncology nurses to deal with the psychological burden of patient deaths.

In this descriptive qualitative study, 10 oncology nurses who had recently experienced a patient's death were recruited via snowball sampling. All were female, with a mean age of 32.9 years (range, 27-44 years), and their mean working duration was 9.9 (range, 3-23) years. Participants were interviewed individually face-to-face 3 times, with each interview lasting 1 to 1.5 hours.

Oncology nurses coped with the psychological burden of a patient's death in the following 4 ways: ( a ) avoiding patient deaths to the extent possible, ( b ) reflecting upon the meaning of life and death, ( c ) suppressing their emotional distress over the patient's death, and ( d ) becoming kinder and more caring toward people around them.

The findings suggest that oncology nurses struggle to cope with the psychological burden of patient deaths. Oncology nurses are affected both negatively and positively by experiencing death as they provide end-of-life care.

Oncology nurses need education or counseling to reduce the psychological burden of caring for dying patients with cancer. Hospital administrators need to continuously identify ways to reduce the psychological burden of oncology nurses providing end-of-life care.