Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Nursing in Critical Care, cilt.31, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
Background: In intensive care units, dying patients have complex care needs both physically and psychosocially. Ensuring a peaceful death requires not only technical skills but also a comprehensive nursing approach that includes empathy, ethical sensitivity and spiritual support. In the literature, it is seen that the concept of peaceful death is generally addressed in the context of palliative care, but the experiences of nurses working in intensive care units on this issue have been explored only in limited depth. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine in depth the nursing practices and experiences of intensive care nurses in supporting a peaceful death for patients. Study Design: The study was conducted within the framework of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which is a phenomenological design among qualitative research methods with an interpretative approach. Nurses working in intensive care units were included in the study. In the sample selection, criterion sampling, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used, and the sample size consisted of 21 nurses. A semi-structured interview form was used for data collection. The data were analysed by thematic content analysis method using MAXQDA software. Findings: In line with the research findings, themes, sub-themes and codes were identified from the nurses' statements. Accordingly, three themes were identified: ‘care practices,’ ‘emotions they felt’ and ‘coping methods.’ Nurses stated that they supported peaceful death with multidimensional approaches such as pain reduction, ensuring comfort, supporting meaningful relationships and respecting the dignity of the patient. Conclusions: This study contributes to understanding the practices nurses use to ensure peaceful death and the emotional burdens they encounter in this process. Thus, it is thought to contribute to ensuring that dying patients in intensive care units receive peaceful, dignified and respectful care. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Determining the needs of dying patients in intensive care units is thought to increase the quality of care provided by nurses to ensure a peaceful death. Health policies should be organised to support a patient-centred care approach based on human dignity in intensive care and should also ensure the active participation of nurses in decision-making processes in this field.