ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopicMortality Saliency and Mental Health: How Could Awareness of Death Promote Well-being?View all 7 articles
Attitudes of medical doctors, nurses and paramedics towards death
Provisionally accepted
Dr Krzysztof Zdziarski
Paulina Zabielska*
Katarzyna Karakiewicz-Krawczyk
Anna Knyszyńska
Anna Landowska
Beata Karakiewicz- Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland
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Abstract The phenomenon and experience of death are of human existence that are explored and presented in many learning spaces. The phenomenon and experience of death are fundamental aspects of human existence, explored and presented across diverse contexts. The issue of attitudes to death is a very important element in the interactions taking place between medical personnel and patients. The aim of this study was to provide an insight into the attitudes of doctors, nurses and paramedics towards death. The study was conducted using the Questionnaire of Attitudes Towards Death, which was completed by 320 respondents. Results from the survey show that the most concrete existential and spiritual attitudes towards death are presented by paramedics compared to the group of medical doctors and nurses.. Doctors adopt distanced attitudes towards the phenomenon. In contrast, nurses show the greatest fear towards dying. The problem described is part of a broad discussion on attitudes to death and provides an opportunity for reflection on this phenomenon, especially in the perspective of modern medical technologies, which in many situations limit interactions with patients. Our findings suggest that professional role significantly shapes these attitudes, with paramedics exhibiting the strongest spiritual and escape-oriented acceptance, while physicians demonstrate the most detached perspective. Keywords: death, attitudes, doctor, nurse, paramedic, patient, Poland
Keywords: death, attitudes, doctor, Nurse, paramedic, Patient, Poland
Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zdziarski, Zabielska, Karakiewicz-Krawczyk, Knyszyńska, Landowska and Karakiewicz. 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: Paulina Zabielska, paulina.zabielska@pum.edu.pl
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