The lived experiences of neuroscience nurses caring for acute stroke patients requiring end-of-life care

Abstract

Cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs) rank as the third leading cause of death in Canada with more than 50,000 of these events occurring annually. The evidence base from which to provide end-of- life care to patients dying from a CVA is currently limited, and there is a dearth of research examining the experiences of nurses charged with the responsibility of caring for these patients. In order to begin to address this gap in the literature, a qualitative study, using van Manen’s interpretive phenomenology was conducted to examine and describe the lived experiences of nurses working on an acute neurosciences unit in a tertiary hospital. Nine nurses were interviewed initially, and two nurses participated in follow-up interviews to confirm the interpretation of the data. This manuscript will discuss the essence of nurses’ lived experience in caring for these patients, as well as implications for education, practice, and future research.