Abstract
back(4) Facilitate a Healthy Death with Evidence-Based Practice grounded on After Death Experience Researches: Advanced Practice Role of a Nursing Leader
Ms. Samantha Yuen-Chun CHONG1, Ms. Lucy CHUNG
1Hong Kong Academy of Nursing, Hong Kong SAR
Background
Fear of death is a common human experience which is often expressed as strong and painful resistance to imminent death by patients and their family. Sometimes medical interventions pursued were futile and only serve to prolong suffering of the dying patients. In order to facilitate a comfortable and natural death, negative attitudes towards death should be addressed and transformed.
Content
In past decades, researches had been done on people who are clinically dead but return to life, recalling events during resuscitation. Experiences of a transcendent state of conscious existence beyond physical world, meeting deceased relatives and coming back with a conviction that life exists after physical death were described. A prospective study by cardiologist Van Lommel published in Lancet, 62 (18%) of 344 consecutive cardiac patients who were successfully resuscitated after cardiac arrest in 10 Dutch hospitals reported near death experience.1 Similar experiences happened to both adult and children in various parts of the world with studies through scientific research and are evidential. Findings can be shared among healthy population and elderly as part of the Life and Death Education, and with patients and families who are facing death and loss.
Findings
Consciousness exists after death not only can alleviate fear of death and pain of grief, but also facilitate acceptance of a more dignified and healthy death without overloading healthcare system economically and clinically with futile and unnecessary treatment.
Conclusion
Research findings and case studies will be shared. How information can be applied in evidence-based advanced nursing practice and in creating an effective service delivery model in nursing and health care management will be highlighted.
Reference
1. Van Lommel, P., Van Wees, R., Meyers, V., & Elfferich, I. (2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet. 2001; 358: 2039-2045.