Abstract

Background: Making decision about what kind of caring is entitled as futile care requires the presentation of a clear definition of such caretaking.

Objective: To report an analysis of the concept of futile care.

Design: The analysis in this research was carried out through hybrid model in three stages. At the theoretical stage:  a review of the available literature. At the work-in-field stage: semi-structured interviews.

Setting: Data collection was on cancer unit and palliative care unit.

Participants: A total of 7 participants were recruited in the study. The inclusion criteria were: having at least a bachelor's degree in nursing, having at least 5 years of experience in critical care or cancer units, and being willing to participate in the study.

Results: Three themes emerged: “low quality of life”, “lack physiologic return to life” and “performing non-professional duties”.

Conclusion: Futile care consists giving clinical cares irrelevant to a nurse's job and giving cares through which the return of patient would be impossible both physiologically and qualitatively.

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