Communicating bad news: an integrative review of the nursing literature

• Main Author: Bertoncello Fontes, Cassiana Mendes [UNESP]
• Publication Date: 2017
• Other Authors: Menezes, Daniele Vieira de, Borgato, Maria Helena [UNESP], Luiz, Marcos Roberto [UNESP]
• Format: Other
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Download full: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0143; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/163543
• topic: Truth-Telling; Communication; Nursing; Family; Information

Objectives: describe how the process of breaking bad news is established and identify how nurses approach the task of giving bad news. Method: integrative review of the literature for articles in Portuguese and English published between 1993-2014, in the databases: Bireme, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and Embase. Nine articles were included using the selection flow chart. A digital form was completed for each article according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist and the level of scientific evidence was determined. Results: Of the 99 articles in identified, nine were included after applying the selection flowchart. Discussion: breaking bad news is frequent in the area of oncology and palliative care, with a strong cultural influence on the autonomy of nurses in this process. Conclusion: the approach and skills of the nurse during this task influences the patient's reaction to the message. The theme is scarce in the literature and merits further investigation.