"It's a Tall Order but I'll Try": a qualitative study on Chinese nurses' cognition and experience responding to cancer patients' requests to hasten death.

<bold>Purpose: </bold>The purpose of this study is to understand the cognition and experience of oncology nurses in China when responding to a patient's request to hasten death, to describe the obstacles that prevent their response, and to provide suggestions for dealing with the patient's request.<bold>Methods: </bold>Researchers conducted a qualitative study that consisted of open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 18 registered nurses who had more than 5 years of working experience in the oncology department at a large-scale urban hospital. We analyzed these data for content and themes.<bold>Results: </bold>How to deal with patients' requests to hasten death is a problem often encountered and handled by nurses in the Department of Oncology. Nurses have a certain understanding of the patients' requests to hasten death. This study abstracts four themes: (1) the nurses' cognition of the "Accelerate the process of death"; (2) the methods they use to deal with the patients' requests to hasten death; (3) the obstacles that prevent nurses from fulfilling the patients' requests to hasten death; and (4) their suggestions for improvement.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Nurses have a deep understanding of the real thoughts of patients who make a death request, and they hope to provide the corresponding psychological support and physical care. However, the lack of relevant knowledge, policy support, and cooperation of patients' families are obstacles that prevent them from taking action. Therefore, increasing relevant training for nurses, encouraging multi-department cooperation, and developing standardized nursing processes may lay a foundation for oncology nurses to better undertake and guide such conversations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]