UCT: New course needed for nurses dealing with death

Johannesburg - A new course is needed within nursing to help nurses prepare for the death of patients under their care, the University of Cape Town said on Monday.

This followed from new research conducted at UCT by PhD graduate Nicola Fouché, spokesperson Riana Geldenhuys said in a statement.

In her thesis, Fouché said nurses, particularly those working in critical care units, were under considerable pressure.

They gave as reasons for leaving the emotional burnout suffered due to the competing priorities they faced, the concern of critical care units to preserve life at all costs, and nurses' personal need to manage human contact with dying patients.

Despite critical care staff being highly trained and skilled, there was high staff turnover, particularly in paediatric critical care units.

Fouché said students studying towards the post graduate diploma in nursing (critical care adult and child) at UCT expressed considerable unease when confronted with discussions of death.

Geldenhuys said: "During research for her thesis... Fouché spent many hours with six nurses who work mainly in paediatric critical care.

"She said the nurses were asked to draw pictures of their experiences with death. They later talked about them."

Fouché stated: "Their sadness was palpable. Often in ICU you don't have time to say goodbye to a baby. A course won't stop the burnout and stress, but it may allow nurses the space to understand and grieve."

A course would also help nurses to understand and respect the way different cultures and religions dealt with dying and death.

"Being with someone in their last days of living is a privilege. You can make that death a very significant goodbye for the family as well as yourself," Fouche said.

Fouché, an experienced critical care nurse, convenes the UCT post graduate diploma in nursing (critical care nursing).

She holds an MSc (Nursing), an advanced university diploma in nursing education, and a diploma in intensive nursing science from UCT.

Fouche graduated with a PhD from UCT on 16 December this year.