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Comparison of Death Attitudes among Hospice Workers and Health Care Professionals in other Settings

Since most health care professionals are trained in acute care settings where all efforts are employed to prolong life, they may not be comfortable caring for dying patients. Hospice professionals have a lot of experience dealing with dying patients. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the death attitudes of hospice and hospital-based health care professionals. The construct theory for the study was that comfort in dealing with dying patients is based on 1) personal beliefs about death and 2) experience dealing with dying patients. Seventy-six hospital and 106 hospice workers participated in the study and completed the thirty-four-item Death Attitude Index (DAI) and the fifteen-item Death Anxiety Scale [1]. The results showed that hospice employees had higher DAI scores (greater comfort caring for the terminally ill), as predicted. Social workers had the highest mean DAI scores and the lowest scores on the DAS (low death anxiety). Nurses aides exhibited high death anxiety and low comfort in dealing with terminal clients. For all disciplines, DAI and DAS scores were highly correlated (coefficient = −0.91). Independent variables that correlated with high DAI scores were educational level and a sacred (versus secular) value system.