한국 의료인의 죽음에 대한 이해*

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the personal meaning of death through the health personnel's death metaphor. Methods: A qualitative study design was utilized. Data were collected from the clinical experiences of physicians, nurses, and paramedics. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The texts were essays written by 43 health care personals about the impressions on death through their clinical experience. Results: There were three themes and fourteen theme clusters classified. The three themes that emerged were: death of human body as a medical failure; death as an occupational neutrality and controled emotion; and conversed death from a bad habit. Conclusion: The findings suggest a number of themes that health personnel's reported about meaning of death experiences through death metaphor that could be explored as a way of improving end-of-life care.