Relationship Between Death Anxiety of Turkish Nurses and Their Attitudes Toward the Dying Patients

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between death anxiety of the Turkish nurses and their attitudes toward the dying patient. This study involved 203 nurses who were working at a university hospital. The data were collected using “Nurse Information Form” (which was prepared by the authors of this research), “Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale,” and “Attitude Scale about Euthanasia, Death, and Dying Patient.” There was a positive correlation between death anxiety and dying patient avoidance behavior and euthanasia score ( p < .05). The findings showed that nurses, death anxiety, and death scores were high in the loss of a close relatives ( p < .05). Our findings suggest that the situation of the dying patients and their families and also nurses should be improved. Thus, special psychological education/training should be given to the nurses to deal with death anxiety and their attitude to the dying patient.