Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions of Preparedness and Ability to Care for the Dying and Their Professional Quality of Life

A study was undertaken to explore whether critical care nurses perceive that they have been adequately prepared during basic nursing education to care for the dying and their loved ones and to identify if there is a relation between their perceptions of preparedness and ability to provide end of life care and professional quality of life (PQOL). Findings indicate that there is a relationship between critical care nurse perceptions of preparedness and ability to care for the dying and their PQOL, with higher compassion satisfaction scores, lower compassion fatigue scores, and lower burnout scores for those who perceive themselves more prepared and better able to provide end of life care (N = 473). Thus, pedagogic interventions to enhance perceptions of preparedness and ability to care for the dying can potentially improved PQOL for nurses working in critical care areas, possibly diminishing the incidence of compassion fatigue and burnout.