심폐소생술 금지(Do-Not-Resuscitate)를 결정한 암환자 가족 의 경험에 관한 현상학적 연구*

The purpose of the study was to understand the experiences of family members of who made do-notresuscitate(DNR) decisions for patients with cancer. A phenomenological approach was used to understand and describe the decision-making experiences of such family members. The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews from six participants at their homes. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed for later analysis. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s method to extract the major themes that describe the essence of the DNR experience. Upon analysis eight themes emerged: commitment to become a primary caregiver; painful acceptance of the impending death of the patient: DNR as a sentence to death; the intensive care room as a place of execution; discreet DNR decisions made for the patient’s comfortable death; DNR decisions made urgently without preparation; being alone with the dying patient; feelings of guilt and lingering attachment to the death of a patient. These themes characterize the DNR decision-making experiences of family members. The results of this study should assist oncology professionals and others in the understanding of family members who make DNR decisions on behalf of cancer patients.