The Influence of Death Perception and Terminal Care Stress on Terminal Care Performance of Nurses Working in Long-Term Care Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of death perception and terminal care stress on terminal care performance of nurses working in long-term care hospitals.Methods: The participants included 160 nurses working in 7 long-term care hospitals with more than 150 beds in Gyeonggi Province. Data collection was conducted from July 12 to August 13, 2021. The independent t-test, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis.Results: Of the participants, 126 (78.8%) were women, and 76 (47.5%) had a religion. The mean total clinical experience was 11.48±9.14 years; 80 (50.3%) participants had been involved in 1-18 terminal care nursing sessions, and 87 (54.4%) had been involved in terminal care nursing education. Gender (β=.17, p=.030) and positive death perception (β=.27, p=.001) affected terminal care performance.Conclusion: A professional and systematic terminal nursing care education program that can facilitate positive death perceptions of hospital nurses is needed, and it is necessary to prepare a specialized system that considers nursing hospitals’ characteristics. In addition, research on terminal care performance targeting male nurses in hospitals and the effects of the working environment and health care system of hospitals on the terminal care performance of hospital nurses is suggested.