Factors affecting the attitude toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment of nurses working at long-term care hospitals

Abstract

Purpose: This study was a descriptive study to identify factors affecting the attitude toward life-sustaining treatment of nurses working at long-term care hospitals. Methods: Data were collected through structured questionnaires from August 2nd to 27th, 2019. Study participants consisted of 163 nurses who were working for at least 6 months from 7 long-term care hospitals in B and K city. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe' test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression with SPSS WIN v 21.0.Results: There were significantly positive correlations between awareness of good death (r=.46, <i>p</i><.001) and perception of patients’ rights (r=.32, <i>p</i><.001). The factors affecting participants’ attitude toward life-sustaining treatment were awareness of good death (<i>β</i>=.35, <i>p</i><.001) and their own view of death (<i>β</i>=.24, <i>p</i>=.001), which explained about 27.0% of the attitude toward life-sustaining treatment.Conclusion: Based on these results, it is necessary to develop nursing educational materials that can establish values for deaths, and cultivate legal and ethical knowledge related to attitude toward life-sustaining treatment. In addition, since the severity of a patient’s condition varies and the characteristics of the institution vary depending on the type of hospital, a study is needed on the relevance of variables considering the hospital environment.