Caring for Patients With Injection Drug Use–Associated Infective Endocarditis at the End of Life

Admissions for patients with injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis are increasing. Injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis is a serious and often fatal cardiac infection. Nurses are often frustrated when caring for these patients because these care assignments are physically and emotionally demanding. Nurses feel helpless, as they disposition young patients to a funeral homes, morgue, or hospice, or send them home to die, and yet a dearth of information regarding end-of-life care for injection drug use-associated infective endocarditis patients remains. This study explored the lived experiential impact these experiences have on nurses. The method was interpretive and participatory, a modified photo-elicitation phenomenological design. Twenty-nine nurses recruited by purposive sampling took photographs and wrote reflections, with 5 participating in an optional unstructured interview conducted by the author. Three themes emerged from the data that elucidated these experiences as (1) a "heartbreaking" experience to witness, (2) an "exhausting" experience to endure, and (3) a practice-altering experience that transforms. Data analysis reveals that nurses experience intense pain, exhaustion, and, yet, transformation, both negative and positive. Implications for nurses include the need for end-of-life education, formal debriefing process to mitigate turnover, and future research into nature-based therapies to help nurses process trauma, as a form of self-care.