The objective of this study was to describe the experience of caring for individuals at the end of life by five nurses working in curative care units. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain a better understanding of the meaning nurses give to this experience. The analysis of results, based on Giorgi's phenomenological method (1997), highlighted a central meaning: it is a human experience fraught with paradoxes where the bedside nurse feels both privileged to be accompanying these individuals at the end of their lives and torn between the medical priority given to curative care and the lesser priority given to palliative care. This study offers relevant options for nurse managers wanting to improve these nurses' work environment and the quality of care for individuals at the end of life.
Brain death is a medical, legal and cultural category constructed to fill an important need created by evolving medical technologies and practices. However, managing life and death via organ transplants and brain death criteria is not without controversy; there remains much confusion and ambivalence in both lay and medical populations regarding both organ donation and the diagnostic category of brain death. By way of a case study of cranial trauma taken from a larger study of bereaved parents, this article discusses how, from a parent's perspective, brain death and organ donation are neither morally nor medically straightforward concepts. The case study presented in this article demonstrates the necessity for more research and clinical training in communication issues regarding brain death and end-of-life care with families in critical care situations.
