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Emergency Department Nurses' Suggestions For Improving End-Of-Life Care, Robert D. Wood

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Death is not an uncommon outcome for patients who seek immediate care in an emergency department. Although death is common in the emergency department there is little literature regarding end-of-life care in the emergency department. The purpose of this research study is to determine what changes emergency nurses would suggest to improve end-of-life care for dying patients and their families in emergency departments.

Background: A national, geographically dispersed, random sample of 1000 emergency nurses were sent a questionnaire entitled, "Emergency Nurses' Perceptions of End-of-Life Care." Inclusion criteria included nurses who were members of the Emergency Nurses Association, could read …