Nurses’ Perspectives on Breaking Bad News to Patients and Their Families: A Qualitative Content Analysis



Abbaszadeh A¹ ; Ehsani SR² ; Begjani J³ ; Kaji MA⁴ ; Dopolani FN⁵ ; Nejati A⁶ ; Mohammadnejad E⁷
Source: Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Published:2014

Abstract

Breaking bad news is quite often not done in an effective manner in clinical settings due to the medical staff lacking the skills necessary for speaking to patients and their families. Bad news is faced with similar reactions on the part of the news receiver in all cultures and nations. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of Iranian nurses on breaking bad news to patients and their families. In this research, a qualitative approach was adopted. Indepth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 nurses who had at least one year work experience in the ward, and content analysis was performed to analyze the data. Five major categories emerged from data analysis, including effective communication with patients and their families, preparing the ground for delivering bad news, minimizing the negativity associated with the disease, passing the duty to physicians, and helping patients and their families make logical treatment decisions. The results of this study show that according to the participants, it is the physicians’ duty to give bad news, but nurses play an important role in delivering bad news to patients and their companions and should therefore be trained in clinical and communicative skills to be able to give bad news in an appropriate and effective manner. © 2014 Abbas Abbaszadeh et al.; licensee Tehran Univ. Med. Sci.