Nurses’ involvement in end-of-life care of patients after a do not resuscitate decision on general medical units in Saudi Arabia

SummaryObjectivesTo describe the essence of the nurses’ lived experience and explore the meaning of their involvement in end-of-life care after a do-not-resuscitate decision has been made.Research methodology/designThe research design embraced qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approaches utilising aspects of phenomenology. Purposive sampling of twenty-six registered nurses was used. Data was collected using the reflective journaling technique and were analysed using an integrated approach. Field notes were also used as a mean to enrich the description of the findings contextually.SettingMedical units in Saudi Arabia.ResultsThree main themes emerged: exhausted medical treatment, continuity of nursing care and cultural considerations in nursing care. Related sub-themes were also identified as an extension to the description of the main themes.ConclusionThe findings affirm that nurses working on medical units continue to maintain a constant level of care for patients and families after the do-not-resuscitate decision. Nurses found that caring for dying patients was a rewarding and worthwhile experience, albeit a challenging and demanding one. The findings suggest that improvement in end-of-life care would be best achieved by collaborative and interdisciplinary practices amongst the health care team members.