Purpose: The study aim was to understand the experiences of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in labor union activities. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study and content analysis were conducted. The participants included nine ICU nurses who shared their experiences with labor union activities. The data were collected through in-depth interviews. Results: The experiences of ICU nurses with labor union activities encompassed five themes: “The Initial Step in Union Activities”, “Benefits Derived from Union Participation”, “Concerns Regarding Union Activities”, “The Non-Omnipotence of Unions”, and “Achieving Mutual Benefits through Union Activities”. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that ICU nurses strive to improve their work and the nursing environment through labor unions, despite facing negative perceptions of union involvement.

With the enforcement of the “Act on decisions on life-sustaining treatment for patients at the end of life” in February 2018, discussion on advanced care planning (ACP) has increased. However, as decisions on life-sustaining treatments are still made in the intensive care unit, deaths related to the suspension of life-sustaining treatment account for a large proportion of deaths in the intensive care unit. The nurses encounter challenges in supporting the patient's dignified death; they experience an ethical dilemma in the ambiguity due to a lack of guidance on legal responsibilities regarding decisions on life-sustaining treatment. In order for the nurses to perform as a supporter providing care to the patients and as a advocate during the process of decision-making on life-sustaining treatment, there should be a systemic change to ensure the nurses' participation. In addition, an open and continuous discussion should be proposed to cultivate nurses’ ethical sensitivity and moral courage. This paper reports two ethical examples related to the decisions on life-sustaining treatment occurred in intensive care units of a tertiary hospital.

Nurses in an intensive care unit (ICU) often play key roles to improve the quality of end-of-life care. During those times, many nurses report they feel ambivalent in the caring between life and death. The purpose of this study was to analyze the concept of ambivalence that ICU nurses often experienced in end-of-life care. As a method, this study was conducted with the concept analysis using the hybrid model Schwartz-Barcott and Kim (1986) presented, naming the complex and dual feelings nurses experience during end-of-life care in ICU as ambivalence. In the theoretical phase and from the literature review, characteristics of ambivalence were identified. During the fieldwork phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with five nurses. In the final phases, a theoretical description was extracted of ambivalence in ICU nurses during end-of-life care. In terms of results, external factors (i.e., realistic context, contradictions in nursing activities themselves) and internal factors (i.e., personal tendencies, conflicting perceptions of dying, occupational awareness of nurses, role conflicts) were derived as antecedents of ICU nurses’ ambivalence during end-of-life care. Attributes were divided into intrinsic and existential dimensions. Intrinsic dimensions resulted in "coexistence of opposing equivalent values," "uncertainty," "hiddenization," "value confrontation may occur sequentially," and "absence of willingness to resolve." In existential dimensions, the following conflicts were derived: "pressure on work versus sympathy about family grief," "helplessness due to failure of medical care versus sadness for patient death" and "role as a nurse versus sadness felt during end-of-life care.” The results are organized into negative assessments of oneself and adaptations to ambivalence. In conclusion, through this concept analysis, the hope is that ICU nurses will be able to prevent progressing to burnout by accurately and actively facing and managing their own feelings during end-of-life care. Furthermore, this research is expected to serve as the cornerstone of developing theories for clinicians who provide end-of-life care.