Children’s nurses’ experiences of caring for dying children in hospital

The retrospective experiences of 44 children’s nurses who had cared for children dying in hospital were investigated using questionnaires, focus group and individual interviews. The findings indicate that nurses experienced a sense of guilt and failure following the death of a child, despite having no rational explanation to justify these feelings. Nurses reported that their role as care-givers, when a child was dying, focused on both the care given to the child, as well as the emotional support given to the grieving parents, who were preparing for the eventual death of the child.The study highlights the difficulty that nurses encounter when trying to foster hope with parents who are struggling to come to terms with impending death. It also identifies the limited support available for those who are emotionally affected when a child they have cared for dies in hospital.