Hirntod erleben, ärztliche Sichtweise – ein phänomenologischer Ansatz

AIM: The aim of the study was to examine how physicians experience caring for (potentially) brain-dead patients. METHODS: Episodic interviews were conducted. Their evaluation was based on Benner’s interpretative phenomenology. RESULTS: Eleven physicians were interviewed. The following phenomena were extracted from the data: (1) encounter with the relatives, (2) making relatives understand brain death, (3) brain death is death, (4) experience of the nurses and (5) burdens. CONCLUSION: The results show the complexity that is perceived by physicians when caring for a (potentially) brain-dead patient. The transition from saving the patient’s life to preserving organs or switching off the equipment and informing the relatives requires a high level of expertise on the part of the physicians. The patients’ symptoms provide the physicians with clear diagnostic procedures and any remaining ambiguities in the (treatment) process should be resolved.