Abstract
This paper articulates the geographies associated with intensive care nursing work with dying patients and their families. Six focus groups were conducted with 27 registered critical care nurses who practice in hospitals in a mid-western city in the United States. The analysis is structured by three emerging themes (i) the importance of a 'good' and 'sacred' place, (ii) the body as mapped by medical specialties, and (iii) problems with procedurally driven suspension of 'do not resuscitate' orders beyond intensive care units (ICUs). Recommendations describe the need for institutional recognition of the moral importance of strong relationships between nurses, clients, and their families, and nurses' wide-ranging roles in bridging the various spatial domains of intensive care.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 814-821 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Health and Place |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the Minnesota Nurses Association for funding this study. They would also like to thank the anonymous referees for their thoughtful reviews and helpful comments. Their contributions improved the paper.
Keywords
- Dying
- Ethics
- Families
- Geography
- Intensive care
- Nursing work