Abstract

Introduction: In 2010, of the 129 million visits to the emergency department (ED), 240,000 resulted in the patient dying or being pronounced dead on arrival. This number is likely to continue to increase as a significant portion of the American population ages and seeks care in the ED. Though care in the ED is focused on saving lives, death cannot always be prevented. Consequently, nurses face many barriers to providing quality end-of-life (EOL) care in the ED when death occurs. The purpose of this study was to identify suggestions emergency nurses have to improve EOL care specifically in rural ED's. Methods: A 57-item questionnaire was sent to 52 rural hospitals in the Intermountain West and Alaska. One of the 57 questions asked nurses to identify the one aspect of EOL care they would change for dying patients in the ED. Each qualitative response was individually reviewed by a research team and then coded into a theme. Results: Four major themes and three minor themes were identified. The major themes were providing greater privacy during EOL care for patients and family members, increasing availability of support services, additional staffing, and improved staff and community education. Discussion: Providing adequate privacy for patients and family members is a major barrier to providing EOL care in the ED. This is largely due to poor department design, especially in rural ED's where space is limited. Lack of support services such as religious leaders, social workers, and additional staffing are also barriers to providing quality EOL care in rural ED's. Consequently, rural nurses are commonly pulled away from EOL care to perform ancillary duties because additional support personnel are lacking. Conclusion: Providing EOL care in the ED is an extremely challenging and demanding task. It is especially difficult in rural ED's where staffing and resources are limited. Consequently, it is imperative that supportive behaviors are acknowledged and barriers are identified to improve EOL care provided to patients and family members in rural ED's. Due to the current lack of research in rural EOL care, further research is justified regarding this topic.

Degree

College and Department

Nursing; Nursing

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/