Abstract
No studies have examined the level of preparedness of CCU nurses to deal with cardiac patients' death issues. Accordingly, the aim of this pilot study was to explore and describe CCU nurses' outlook on their own as well as their patients' thoughts about death. A pilot study was conducted in 2005 at a University Hospital in southern Sweden. The 63 (93%) nurses answered a newly established 18-item questionnaire regarding their own and their patients' thoughts about death. Descriptive statistics revealed that 90% of nurses believed that patients often thought about death. Regarding their outlook on death issues, 41% were aware of their personal standpoint, 63% were clear about their plan of action, 34% showed openness towards their patients and 26% expressed educational adequacy. These low figures pertaining to both personal and professional awareness indicate a lack of knowledge and competence. Clinical implications are the provision of various forums at CCUs on this subject and the creation of awareness at all levels of nursing education. Research implications are to further develop the instrument and implement an intervention at the CCU of how to care for dying cardiac patients in a professional manner.