The Lived Experience of Grief Among Muslim Nurses Dealing With Death of Patients in Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

This study aims to describe the meaning of the lived experiences of grief of Muslim nurses who cared for patients who died in the intensive care units (ICU). Gadamerian philosophy underpinned the hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyze and interpret the lived experience of nurses who cared for patients who died in intensive care units. Fourteen nurses in an ICU at a tertiary public hospital in West Sumatera, Indonesia, met the inclusion criteria were asked to illustrate their grief experiences using graphic representations, followed by narrative reflections of their experience through face-to-face interview. Graphic representations and interview transcriptions were analyzed using van Manen. Trustworthiness was established following Lincoln and Guba's criteria. The findings of this study revealed five major thematic categories reflecting the five life-worlds. These thematic categories included: empathetic understanding', 'balancing self", ‘space of avoidance', 'anticipating the future of own death', and 'relating technologies in bargaining'. Understanding Muslim nurses' grief experience is necessary to maintain nurses' wellbeing and professionalism. However, the findings can be used to suggest that educational, psychological and institutional support to manage grief should be provided to the nurses in ICU.