Available online 25 April 2024, 151645

Author links open overlay panel, ABSTRACTObjectives

The study aimed to examine the relationship between attitudes toward death, rumination, and psychological resilience of oncology nurses.

Methods

The study design was cross-sectional. Data were collected from 118 oncology nurses using the Demographic Data Form, Work-Related Rumination Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale Short Form, and Death Attitude Profile-Revised Scale. For data analysis, correlation and regression analyses were performed.

Results

The study findings showed that oncology nurses` work related rumination score was moderate, while psychological resilience score was severely high. More than two-thirds of the work-related ruminations of oncology nurses were explained by psychological resilience and attitudes toward death. Even though there is a negative correlation between negative attitudes toward death and psychological resilience, the acceptance of death scores showed positive relations with psychological resilience.

Conclusion

Nurses with positive attitudes toward death can also develop psychological resilience and experience fewer work-related ruminations. This result reveals the necessity of determining oncology nurses' attitudes toward death in order to protect their psychological resilience and reduce work-related ruminations. It is also evident that the results are valuable in presenting how nurses' work-related ruminations relate to psychological resilience and attitudes toward death.

Implications for Nursing Practice

Nurses are the main care providers in oncology settings, and they are witnessing the suffering process of their patients and experiencing the loss of their patients. These challenges bring work-related ruminations that lower the psychological resilience of nurses and affect attitudes toward death. Therefore, nurses can build an awareness of their ruminations and develop coping skills with intrusive ruminations.

Section snippetsDesign

This study was conducted using a correlational descriptive design in line with the STROBE Checklist.

Sample

According to the Cohen method,42 the sample size for the study was calculated using the GPower 3.1 program. The power and alpha values were set at .90 and .05, respectively. A total of 118 oncology nurses were required for the study. Participants were selected through convenience sampling. Eligibility criteria included having at least 1 year of experience as an oncology nurse and voluntary

Results

The mean age of participants (n = 118) was 32.9 ± 6.4 years. The mean working duration as a nurse was 10.6 ± 7.3 years, while the mean working duration in oncology was 7.6 ± 6 years. Of the participants, 81.4% (n = 96) were women and 55.1% (n = 65) were married (Table 1).

Discussion

This study explored the relationship between work-related rumination, psychological resilience, and attitudes toward death among oncology nurses. While previous research has focused on work-related rumination in nurses,26,49,50 there has been no specific study examining the work-related ruminations in oncology nurses and the interplay of all three concepts (rumination, psychological resilience, and attitudes toward death). Consequently, there is a gap in the existing literature regarding the

Conclusion

The study findings highlight that positive attitudes toward death are associated with decreased work-related rumination and increased psychological resilience among oncology nurses. Conversely, negative attitudes toward death have the opposite effect. Additionally, work-related rumination and psychological resilience are mutually predictive factors. The study underscores the need for further research in these areas, particularly regarding work-related ruminations—an area often underestimated in

Author Contributions

Yeter Sinem Üzar-Özçetin was responsible for writing – review and editing, writing – original draft, visualization, supervision, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, data curation, and conceptualization. Simay Ezgi BudakWriting was responsible for the original draft, methodology, formal analysis, and data curation.

Source of Funding

This research did not receive a specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all participants who agreed to participate voluntarily in this study.

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