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"It was the first time someone had died before my eyes…": A qualitative study on the first death experiences of
Yasemin Çekiç1, Behice Belkıs Çalişkan2, Gülhan Küçük Öztürk3
1Ankara University, Faculty of Nursing, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Ankara, Turkey.
Background:
Accompanying a person at their death is a common experience in nurse education. In addition to all death experiences that are a meaningful part of the nursing profession, the first death experience is very important. However, there is limited understanding of nursing students' first death experiences.
Objectives:
This study aimed to explore nursing students' experiences of the death of a person for the first time during clinical practice.
Design:
This study was conducted as a qualitative study using a phenomenological design.
Participants:
A total of 17 nursing students participated in this study.
Methods:
Data were collected through online individual in-depth interviews and were analyzed using content analysis.
Results:
Four main themes and eleven sub-themes emerged. The themes were meaning of death (first death, a part of life), process management (death information, physical environment, bad news), after death (empty bed, questioning, death with dignity) and education (curriculum, support, professional perception).
Conclusions:
While the first experience of death provides an opportunity for students to learn, this experience reveals various negative emotions and the need for support.
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