Nurses’ Experiences in Communicating with Parents of children in End-of-Life Care (EOLC) in The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)

Elsa Naviati; Nana Rochana; Reni Sulung Utami; Etty Nurul Afidah

doi:10.26714/mki.8.3.2025.209-214

Nurses’ Experiences in Communicating with Parents of children in End-of-Life Care (EOLC) in The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)

Elsa Naviati^(1*), Nana Rochana⁽²⁾, Reni Sulung Utami⁽³⁾, Etty Nurul Afidah⁽⁴⁾

(1) Universitas Diponegoro
(2) Universitas Diponegoro
(3) Universitas Diponegoro
(4) Universitas Diponegoro
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

Comprehensive therapeutic communication plays a crucial role in delivering nursing care during the end-of-life (EOL) phase. This study aims to investigate nurses' encounters with communication in end-of-life care (EOLC) within the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). A qualitative descriptive study was carried out at a general hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 participants, selected through purposive sampling with the assistance of the Head Nurse. The inclusion criteria comprised nurses with at least 5 years of experience in the PICU who had provided end-of-life (EOL) care to patients. Thematic analysis was employed to develop the qualitative data's thematic structures in this study. The analysis of the entire data has revealed three themes: (1) Nurses adapt communication according to the family's psychological state (2) physical touch as an aspect of caring, and (3) spiritual approach. Communication during end-of-life (EOL) nursing presents difficulties due to constraints such as time constraints and the emotional state of the family, posing challenges for nurses.

Keywords

communication; end-of-life; nurses

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References

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