Objective: This study aimed to gain insights into home-visiting nurses’ perceptions of anticipatory grief support for families of terminally ill patients and identify the factors associated with such perceptions. A questionnaire survey was conducted nationwide to shed light on this issue.
Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was administered to 1,400 full-time home-visiting nurses. The questions pertained to their basic attributes, spirituality, and perception of anticipatory grief support.
Results: A total of 422 questionnaires were returned (recovery rate: 30.1 %), of which 420 were used. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and covariance structure analysis. Five factors were extracted from the participants’ responses to 20 questions regarding anticipatory grief support. Among these, two items were related to perception: 1 ) approach left to the tacit atmosphere and 2) necessity for consciously identifying anticipatory grief. Of the two, many nurses responded with the latter. In addition, a model was created through covariance structure analysis using the five extracted factors to measure the degrees of fit (GFI = .95, AGFI = .94, RMSEA = .04).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that home-visiting nurses consciously identified anticipatory grief by valuing the experience of grief with the families of terminally ill patients. This process may lead to a change in their outlook on life and death.
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