萩谷, 翔太

HAGIYA, Shota

[SUMMARY] Objectives: This study aims to conduct a mapping review of studies on end-of-life care (EOLC) in the field of emergency and intensive care in Japan and to provide an overview of extant literature and future research directions required. Methods: Ichushi-Web and PubMed were searched for original studies and literature reviews published between 2008 and 2021 by combining the search terms “end of life,” “emergency,” and “intensive care.” The selection criterion was “focus on EOLC in the field of emergency and intensive care,” and the exclusion criterion was “pediatric subjects.” Results: In total, 1,635 articles were screened, out of which 46 articles were included in the review. Forty-three of them(93.5％) were original studies, and 34(73.9％) articles were written by first authors whose area of expertise was nursing. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were employed in approximately equal numbers. In 25(54.3％) studies, the research participants were nurses. The research objectives could be categorized into eight types, some of which were “Nursing support for end-of-life patients and their families,” “Medical personnel’s perceptions, attitudes, difficulties, and conflicts toward EOLC.” Future research was required to address topics, such as “Expansion of target areas and subjects,” and “Intervention and evaluation of end-of-life patients and their families” in the original studies and “Understanding and intervention of the psychological status of families of end-of-life patients” in the literature reviews. Conclusion: EOLC studies in the field of emergency and intensive care have been conducted mainly in nursing. Research aimed at the well-being of both end-of-life patients and EOLC providers, focused on topics such as “Patients and families as research participants” and “nurses’ emotional exhaustion” will be essential in the future.