NURSES^ SPIRITUAL DISTRESS DURING END OF LIFE DECISION MAKING : A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY
Arif Imam Hidayat 1, Waraporn Kongsuwan 2, Kittikorn Nilmanat 2 Adiratna Sekar Siwi 3

1 (Nursing Program. Faculty of Health Sciences. Jenderal Soedirman University).
2Faculty of Nursing. Prince of Songkla University. Thailand
3School of Nursing. Faculty of Health. Harapan Bangsa University.

Abstract

Objectives: This study describes the meaning of Muslim nurses^ lived experience during their involvement in End of Life (EOL) decision making in Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Methods: This study was conducted in an ICU of a government hospital in Central Java, Indonesia. Fourteen nurses were recruited as participants after they met the inclusion criteria: Muslims, working at least three years in the ICU, and willing to share their experience. Data were collected using in-depth interviews. Van Manen^s hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data transcription.
Results: Experiences of nurses^ involvement in EOL decision making revealed four thematic categories. Feeling spiritual distress, understanding family^s feelings as a killer, respecting privacy, and continuing time of caring. These themes reflecting van Manen^s four lived world of body, time, relation, and space.
Conclusions: This study described the meaning of Muslim nurses^ EOL decision making in ICU and influence nursing policies regarding education in EOL decision making in ICU settings.

Keywords: hermeneutics, terminal care, decision making, Islam

Topic: Disaster, Emergency, Intensive and Critical Care Nursing