Trends in Nursing Research on Life-Sustaining Treatment in South Korea after the Enforcement of the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment

PURPOSE: This study investigated trends of nursing research on life-sustaining treatment in South Korea. METHODS: The period for data search was set from January 2018 to December 2020. The major search terms used were advance directives and life-sustaining treatment. Of the 492 records identified in the initial search, 461 articles were excluded for various reasons. A total of 31 records were included in the final qualitative analysis. RESULTS: Sixteen studies had nursing students as study subjects, while nine studies had nurses as study subjects. The majority of the studies employed cross-sectional descriptive surveys as their research design. The major themes that emerged from the studies were as follows attitudes toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, knowledge of and attitudes toward advance directives, perceptions of a good death, and nurses’ attitude toward life support care. Most of the studies reviewed concluded that attitudes toward withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment significantly impacted both knowledge of and attitudes toward advance directives and perceptions of a good death. CONCLUSION: To date, Korea still lacks extensive nursing research concerning life support care. Further research is needed to provide systematic education for nursing ethics and life support care, as well as the introduction of a specialist course. Furthermore, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary to provide diverse support systems and policy measures. In particular, since nurses are directly responsible for providing life support care, nurses’ roles should be expanded in accordance with the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment.