To explore nurses’ ability to cope with death and its relationship with death cognition and meaning in life in the context of Chinese traditional culture. 1146 nurses from six tertiary hospitals were recruited. Participants completed the Coping with Death Scale, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the self-made Death Cognition Questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the search for meaning, the understanding of “good death”, receiving education related to life-and-death, cultural aspect, the presence of meaning, and the number of patient deaths experienced in career explained 20.3% of the variance in the ability to cope with death. Lacking a correct understanding of death, nurses are not sufficiently prepared to deal with death and their ability to cope with death is influenced by the unique cognition of death and the sense of the meaning in life in the context of Chinese traditional culture.
Background
It is important to understand how the perception of death affects the competence to cope with death.
Objectives
To explore whether the perception of death has an indirect effect on competence to cope with death through the mediation of attitude toward death and meaning of life.
Methods
A total of 786 nurses from Hunan Province, China, selected by random sampling method and asked to complete an online electronic questionnaire between October and November 2021 were included in the study.
Results
The nurses’ scored 125.39 ± 23.88 on the competence to cope with death. There was a positive correlation among perception of death, competence to cope with death, the meaning of life, and attitude toward death. There were three mediating pathways: the separate mediating effect of natural acceptance and meaning of life, and the chain mediating effect of natural acceptance and meaning of life.
Conclusion
The nurses’ competence to cope with death was moderate. Perception of death could indirectly and positively predict nurses’ competence to cope with death by enhancing natural acceptance or sense of meaning in life. In addition, perception of death could improve natural acceptance and then enhance the sense of meaning in life to positively predict nurses’ competence to cope with death.
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