Objectives:

This study was carried out in order to determine educational needs of nurses in the light of the findings obtained by examining attitudes of nurses towards death and some factors.

Materials and Methods:

The population of this cross-sectional study consisted of 1430 nurses working in Cebeci Research and Application Hospital of Ankara University and Turgut Özal Medical Center of İnönü University. Sample size was determined as 303. A total of 262 nurses were reached, 131 from each hospital. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using personal information form and death attitudes profile (DAP). As total score of the scale increases, negative attitude towards death develops (bad).

Results:

The mean age of the nurses participating in the study was 33.49±7.46 years, 79.4% were female and most of the nurses had bachelor’s degrees. 55.2% of nurses stated that they received a training on death. The DAP scores of nurses were found as 136.39 in women and 127.86 in men (p=0.009). It was 136.46 for nurses working at Ankara University and 133.50 for those working at Inonu University (p=0.294). It was 134.37 in nurses living in nuclear family and 156.66 for those living alone (p=0.072). Nurses with the lowest DAP scores were those working in physical medicine, gastroenterology, and psychiatry departments, and nurses working in intensive care and emergency departments had the highest scores. The scores obtained from the fear of death subscale of the DAP were found to be significantly different among the departments studied. The fear of death score was found highest among nurses working in emergency and intensive care units.

Conclusion:

The study found more negative attitudes towards death among nurses who were female, living alone and working in intensive care and emergency units. The fear of death score was found highest among nurses working in emergency and intensive care units. Especially in emergency and intensive care units, training for death is recommended.

Keywords: Death Anxiety, Nurses, Attitude Towards Death