Many health care professionals have to deal regularly with their patients' deaths and relatives' bereavement, but frequently they have not been trained in this area, and therefore the psychological cost is very high. The authors' principal aim in this work is to describe health care professionals' perceptions about death. A group of health care professionals who worked with children was compared with a group who worked with elderly people. Results showed that emotional aspects were perceived as more important than biomedical aspects in the death process. Between the groups, some differences were detected relating to the perception of the proximity of members' own deaths, and the authors could also observe that the death of a loved one was perceived as more important than their own death. These results should be taken into account to design training programs for health care professionals to minimize psychological costs and increase the quality of care.
BayésR.2000. Los dos objetivos prioritarios de la medicina del siglo XXI (The twofold objective of the medicine in the century XXI). Jano65:2428–29.
2.
BayésR.LimoneroJ. T.RomeroE., and ArranzP.. 2000. ¿Qué puede ayudarnos a morir en paz?Medicina Clínica115:579–82.
3.
BenéB., and FoxallM. J.. 1991. Death anxiety and job stress in hospice and medical-surgical nurses. Hospice Journal7 (3): 25–41.
4.
CallahanD.2000. Death and the research imperative. New England Journal of Medicine342:654–56.
5.
CarnéX.1993. Medición de la calidad de vida (Measuring quality of life). In Terapéutica y calidad de vida, edited by CampsV. and Pérez-OlivaM., 19–24. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Doyma.
6.
CastañoR. A.2000. Medicina, ética y reformas a la salud: hacia un nuevo contrato social con la profesión médica. Bogotá, Colombia: Ecoe.
7.
ColeM. A.1978. Sex and marital status differences in death anxiety. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying9:139–47.
8.
DavisS. F.BremerS. A.AndersonB. J., and TramillJ. L.. 1983. The interrelationship of ego strength, self-esteem, death anxiety, and gender in undergraduate college students. Journal of General Psychology108:55–59.
9.
DePaolaS. J.NeimeyerR. A.LupferM. B., and FiedlerJ.. [1994] 1997. Preocupación por la muerte y actitudes hacia los ancianos en el personal de enfermería en geriátricos (Death concern and attitudes toward the elderly in nursing home personnel). In Métodos de evaluación de la ansiedad ante la muerte, edited by NeimeyerR. A.. Reprint, Barcelona, Spain: Paidós.
10.
DePaolaS. J.NeimeyerR. A., and FiedlerJ.. 1992. Death concern and attitudes toward the elderly in nursing home personnel. Death Studies16:537–55.
11.
DePaolaS. J.NeimeyerR. A., and RossS. K.. 1994. Death concern and attitudes toward the elderly in nursing home personnel as a function of training. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying29:231–48.
12.
EakesG.1985. The relationship between death anxiety and attitudes toward the elderly among nursing staff. Death Studies9:163–72.
13.
EggermanS., and DustinD.. 1985. Death orientation and communication with the terminally ill. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying16:255–65.
14.
Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Population and Social Conditions. 2001/15. First results of the demografic data collection for 2000 in Europe. Luxembourg, Belgium: Eurostat Press Office.
15.
FangB., and HowellK. A.. 1976. Death anxiety among graduate students. Journal of the American College Health Association25:310–13.
16.
FeifelH., and BranscombA. B.. 1973. Who's afraid of Death?Journal of Abnormal Psychology81:282–88.
17.
FrommeltC. H.1991. The effects of death education on nurses? Attitudes toward caring for terminally ill persons and their families. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care8 (5): 37–43.
18.
GesserG.WongP. T. P., and RekerG. T.. 1988. Death attitudes across the lifespan: The development and validation of the Death Attitude Profile. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying2:113–28.
19.
GómezM. J., and MedranoJ.. 1998. La muerte en las residencias de ancianos: actitudes de las residencias y opiniones de los residentes (Death in elderly nursing homes: Attitudes of the staff and opinions of the residents). Revista Española de Geriatría y Gerontología33 (1): 21–26.
20.
Gómez-TelloV.2001. Pronóstico y calidad de vida de los ancianos sometidos a tratamiento prolongado en una UCI (Prognostic and quality of life in elderly attended in an intensive care unit). Revista Electrónica de Medicina Intensiva24(1).
21.
GorsuchR. L., and VenableG. D.. 1983. Development of an “age universal” I-E scale. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion22:181–87.
22.
Haisfield-WolfeM. E. (1996). End-of-life care: Evolution of the nurse's role. Oncology Nursing Forum23:931–35.
23.
KayeJ.GracelyE., and LoscalzoG.. 1994. Changes in students? Attitudes following a course on death and dying: A controlled comparison. Journal of Cancer Education9 (2): 77–81.
24.
KissaneD. W.2000. Neglect of bereavement care in general hospitals. Medical Journal of Australia173:456.
25.
KriegerS. R.EptingF. R., and LeitnerL. M.. 1974. Personal constructs, threat, and attitudes toward death. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying5:299–310.
26.
LattannerB., and HayslipB.. 1984. Occupation-related differences in levels of death anxiety. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying15 (1): 53–66.
27.
LinnB. S.MoravecJ., and ZeppaR.. 1982. The impact of clinical experience on attitudes of junior medical students about death and dying. Journal of Medical Education57:684–91.
28.
MarksA.1986. Race and sex differences and fear of dying. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying17:229.
29.
MarshallV. W.1982. Death and dying. In Research instruments in social gerontology. Vol. 1, Clinical and social psychology, edited by MangenD. and PetersonW., 303–81. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
30.
McMordieW. R., and KumarA.. 1984. Cross-cultural research on the Templer McMordie Death Anxiety Scale. Psychological Reports54:959–63.
31.
PalenciaE.2002. Implicaciones de la denegación del ingreso en UCI (Implications for the admission denial in an intensive care unit). Revista Electrónica de Medicina Intensiva2 (1): 281.
32.
PollakJ. M.1979. Correlates of death anxiety: a review of empirical studies. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying10:97–121.
33.
RaineyL. C.1984. Death education for oncology professionals: A personal construct theory perspective. In Personal meanings of death theory perspective, edited by EptingF. R. and NeimeyerR. A., 195–210. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
34.
RasmussenC. A., and BremsC.. 1996. The relationship of death anxiety with age and psychosocial maturity. Journal of Psychology130:141–44.
35.
RigdonM. A., and EptingF. R.. 1985. Reduction in death threat as a basis for optimal functioning. Death Studies9:427–48.
36.
RobbinsR. A.1992. Death competence: A study of hospice volunteers. Death Studies16:557–67.
37.
Rodríguez-MarínJ.1994. Evaluación en prevención y promoción de la salud (Assessment in prevention and health promotion). In Evaluación conductual hoy. Un enfoque para el cambio en psicología clínica y de la salud, edited by Fernández-BallesterosR.. Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.
38.
SábadoJ. T., and LlistuellaE. G.. 2001. Ansiedad ante la muerte: efectos de un curso de formación en enfermeras y auxiliares de enfermería (Death anxiety: Effects of a formation course for nurses and nurse assistants). Enfermeria Clínica11:104–09.
39.
SandersJ. F.PooleT. E., and RiveroW. T.. 1980. Death anxiety among the elderly. Psychological Reports46:53–56.
40.
Sanz-OrtizJ.1985. El paciente con enfermedad terminal. Los intocables de la medicina (Terminally ill patients: The pariahs of medicine). Medicina Clínica84:691–93.
41.
Sanz-Ortiz. 1997. Decisiones en el final de la vida (Decisions at the end of life). Medicina Clínica109:457–59.
42.
ServatyH. L.KrejciM. J., and HayslipB.. 1996. Relationships among death anxiety, communication apprehension with the dying, and empathy in those seeking occupations as nurses and physicians. Death Studies20:149–61.
43.
StevensS. J.CooperP. E., and ThomasL. E.. 1980. Age norms for Templer's Death Anxiety Scale. Psychological Reports46:205–06.
44.
TemplerD.RuffC., and FranksC.. 1971. Death anxiety: Age, sex, and parental resemblance in diverse populations. Developmental Psychology4:108.
45.
ThorsonJ. A., and PowellF. C.. 1988. Elements of death anxiety and meanings of death. Journal of Clinical Psychology44:691–701.
46.
UllaS.ArranzP.ArgüelloM. T.RamosJ. L., and del RincónC.. September/October 2001. Acercamiento al enfermo en situación terminal: implicaciones para la formación de enfermería (Approachig the terminally ill patients: Implications for nursing personnel formation). Enfermería Científica, 234–235: 73–80.
47.
Véliz-PintosR. A., and de AkakiC. Caballero. 2000. Factores del ambiente psicológico en las unidades de terapia intensiva pediátrica (Factors of the psychological environment in pediatric intensive care units). Revista Mexicana de Pediatría67 (1): 33–37.
48.
VickioC. J., and CavanaughJ. C.. 1985. Relationships among death anxiety, attitudes toward aging and experience with death in nursing home employees. Journal of Gerontology40:347–49.
49.
VineyL. L.1984. Concerns about death among severely ill people. In Personal meanings of death, edited by EptingF. R. & NeimeyerR. A., 143–58. Washington, DC: Hemisphere/McGraw-Hill.
50.
WassH., and MyersJ. E.. 1982. Psychosocial aspects of death among the elderly: a review of the literature. Personnel and Guidance Journal61:131–37.
51.
WilliamsA. G.O'BrienD. L.LaughtonK. J., and JelinekG. A.. 2000. Improving services to bereaved relatives in the emergency department: making healthcare more human. Medical Journal of Australia173:480–83.
52.
YoungM., and DanielsS.. 1980. Born again status as a factor in death anxiety. Psychological Reports47:367–70.
