Death and Dying in the Emergency Department

Abstract

The Research to Practice column is intended to improve the research critique skills of the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and to assist with the translation of research into practice. For each column, a topic and a particular research study are selected. The stage is set with a case presentation. The research article is then reviewed and critiqued, and the findings are discussed in relation to the case presented. Our current column discusses factors associated with the quality of the death and dying experience in the emergency department (ED) from the perspective of health care providers with implications for APRN practice and strategies using the following study: McCallum, K. J., Jackson, D., Walthall, H., & Aveyard, H. (2018). “Exploring the quality of the dying and death experience in the emergency department: An integrative literature review,” International Journal of Nursing Studies, 85, 106–117. Our case involves a man with metastatic colon cancer where his oncology nurse practitioner recommends no further treatment and tells him he has approximately 6 months to live.