Intensive Care Nurses' Perceptions of Futility and Good Death.

Abstract

This study was aimed at determining intensive care nurses' perceptions of futile treatment and good death. In the study, 136 nurses working in intensive care units were included. The data of the study were collected with the "Nurse Information Form", "Nurses' Attitudes towards Futile Treatment Scale" and "Good Death Scale". Frequency, descriptive statistics, Independent Samples-t test, "ANOVA" test, "Spearman" correlation coefficient were used to interpret the findings. The mean scores from the overall Nurses' Attitudes towards Futile Treatment Scale and Good Death Scale score were 48.48 ± 9.26 and 54.46 ± 7.80, respectively. There was a significant relationship between their education levels and the mean scores they obtained from the overall Good Death Scale. There was a positive significant relationship between the scores obtained from each scale and their dimensions. It was concluded that the nurses could accept futile practices in line with certain principles that their perception of good death was at a good level.