Perceived stress in end-of-life care: a qualitative study of Iranian nurses' experiences.

Background: Nurses experience high levels of stress while providing end-of-life care, which puts them under emotional pressure, stress and conflict. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the experiences of nurses during the provision of end-of-life care in Iran.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study conducted using a conventional content analysis approach in Gorgan in 2023. A total of 11 nurses participated in this study, who were selected purposefully with maximum variation. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using the five-step conventional content analysis method of Graneheim and Lundman (2004).

Results: From the data analysis, three categories and seven subcategories emerged. The categories include: 'caring nature', 'structural challenges of the care system' and 'communication challenges'.

Conclusion: Generally speaking, different types of stresses influence the performance of nurses that are involved in end-of-life care. By identifying some of these stressors, nurses, nursing managers and health policymakers can adopt supportive strategies to reduce the perceived stress and, consequently, improve the quality of end-of-life care by reducing the consequences of stress, such as burnout, moral distress and high job turnover.