"Paediatric nurses' experience with death: The effect of empathetic tendency on their anxiety levels"- Sevinç Polat, et al.
I found this source during class when we were in the McIntyre Library. I searched “Pediatric nurses” and “death”. From the article’s title, I realized it was an international article from the UK because of how pediatric was spelt. I thought that it would fit in well to compare the difference, if there is one, between what is happening with pediatric nurses in the U.S. with the pediatric nurses in the UK. The three authors of the article provide their credentials with the lead author, Polat, having a Ph.D., the second listed author having a master’s in science, and the third also having a Ph.D. which provides good ethos. The source has situated ethos with 18 citations from Google Scholar and was published in 2013.
This source, “Paediatric nurses’ experience with death: The effect of empathetic tendency on their anxiety levels” by Sevinç Polat, et al. summarized the effects of pediatric intensive care nurse’s anxiety levels after a patient’s death. These researchers used three types of assessments to measure anxiety. One of the assessments was the STAI-S, which measured the PICU nurse’s anxiety. Next, the STAI-T measured feelings. Last was the ETS (Empathic Tendency Scale). The ETS measured the nurse’s day to day lives.
This source provides evidence in regard to anxiety which can be a factor in causing stress. The results were not surprising. They found between the three tests that “nurses had a mild constant anxiety level under normal conditions, and experienced moderate anxiety levels when faced with death” (8). The researchers were then able to conclude that the PICU nurses’ levels of anxiety went down as their levels of empathy went up. This means that when a nurse is less stressed, they are likely to be more empathetic. They also stated that when working with pediatrics, “parents experience more difficulties, especially when faced with death, if nurses do not empathize adequately and subsequently do not handle the situation professionally”. This shows the importance of being empathetic when working in pediatrics. This is because you have to connect with young children and their parents.
This source compared to my previous source focused solely on the death of patients. The other source focused on the broad topic of nurses who are stressed while working. This source is also international. I included it to provide variation and to see if there was any type of connection between pediatric nurses internationally, versus in the U.S. This was done because in the UK, “there’s a state-funded system called the National Health Service, or NHS, which guarantees care for all” (Frayer). With that being said, their approach to nursing could be different. I was able to conclude from comparing other sources, that UK nurses do feel stressed when it comes to death of a patient the same ways that nurses in the U.S. feel.
This source provides evidence in regard to anxiety which can be a factor in causing stress. The results were not surprising. They found between the three tests that “nurses had a mild constant anxiety level under normal conditions, and experienced moderate anxiety levels when faced with death” (8). The researchers were then able to conclude that the PICU nurses’ levels of anxiety went down as their levels of empathy went up. This means that when a nurse is less stressed, they are likely to be more empathetic. They also stated that when working with pediatrics, “parents experience more difficulties, especially when faced with death, if nurses do not empathize adequately and subsequently do not handle the situation professionally”. This shows the importance of being empathetic when working in pediatrics. This is because you have to connect with young children and their parents.
This source compared to my previous source focused solely on the death of patients. The other source focused on the broad topic of nurses who are stressed while working. This source is also international. I included it to provide variation and to see if there was any type of connection between pediatric nurses internationally, versus in the U.S. This was done because in the UK, “there’s a state-funded system called the National Health Service, or NHS, which guarantees care for all” (Frayer). With that being said, their approach to nursing could be different. I was able to conclude from comparing other sources, that UK nurses do feel stressed when it comes to death of a patient the same ways that nurses in the U.S. feel.
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