ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1615027
A Qualitative Study of Conflict Experiences of Chinese Physicians and Nurses Experiencing Death of Relatives: Effects of Dual Roles
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Nursing, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- 3Hangzhou Institute of Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 4School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 5Dalian Women and Children’s Medical Center(Group), Dalian, Liaoning Province, China
- 6First Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China
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IntroductionThis study explored experiences of conflict among Chinese Physicians and Nurses following the loss of a loved one. This study aimed to examine the mechanisms behind these conflicting experiences as perceived by Chinese Physicians and Nurses.MethodsThis qualitative exploratory study was conducted in three Chinese hospitals. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 Physicians and Nurses members using a descriptive phenomenological analysis. Colaizzi's seven-step analysis was used to analyze the interview data.ResultsThe following three themes and six sub-themes were identified: terminal stage (the responsibility exacerbates the burden of medical decision-making and professional expertise exacerbating internal conflict); acute loss stage (the experience of bereavement disrupts the professional values of medical personnel and emotional projection and avoidance of similar operations); bereavement recovery (reflection on the meaning of the profession and reconceptualization of death).ConclusionThese dual roles place significant psychological pressure on the Chinese Physicians and Nurses and lead to emotional fluctuations and complex internal conflicts when facing the death of their loved ones. Hospital administrators should recognize these contradictions, understand their complex emotions, and provide appropriate social support to address the needs of the Physicians and Nurses.Keywords: Physicians and Nurses; death; role conflict; qualitative research
Keywords: Physicians and nurses, death, role conflict, qualitative research, Chinese
Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 XIN, Liang, Miao, LYU, Fan, Ning and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
GuanMian Liang, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310022, Zhejiang, China
QunFang Miao, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
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