The Near Death Experiences of Patients Survivors from Severe Illness

Introduction: Near-death experiences are vivid, subjective and occur in individuals whose life is at risk, such as heart or respiratory arrest, severe brain injury, shock or those who feel death as an oncoming event. The purpose of the present study was to explore near death experiences of critically ill patients through the review of current literature. Method: An elaborate study of international literature and research studies was conducted in the Scopus, PubMed databases with the keywords near death experience (NDE), out of body experiences (OBE). Results: During the tremendous near-death experience, the individuals encounter with a series of events, such as out-of-body experience, various pleasant emotions, the vision of a bright-light at the end of the tunnel, the vision of dead relatives, the recall of his life and then a conscious return to his body. Afterwards, there are observed significant and various changes in both patients' behavior and spirituality. The types of near death experiences vary according both to the events that patients experience and their impact on their psychic sphere and subsequent life course. Many times individuals acquire positive spiritual properties such as a sense of an endless love, importance and purpose in life but also a reduced fear of death as well as a belief in life after death. Negative experiences are reported only by 1–2% of patients, describing them as unpleasant or frightening, which create a sense of non-existence or the feeling of vacuum or even experiences involving devilish landscapes and faces. Conclusions: Near death experience marks and redefines patients' way of expression and attitudes. Frequently, nurses are the first to manage such an event. For this reason, in-depth awareness and constant education along with recent nursing guidelines is of great importance having as ultimate goal the benefit for patient and his or her family.

Category: Volume 58, N 1
Hits: 1093 Hits
Created Date: 15-03-2019
Authors: Angeliki Stamou , Efthymia Kokmotou , Dimitrios Koukoularis