The Investigation of Near-death Experiences, and Necessity of Awareness about its Elements

Near-death experience (NDE) is a phenomenon with paranormal elements which follows pervasive and deep personal and social changes for patients. The familiarity of medical staff with the components of this phenomenon, and their appropriate response to patients’ experiences could facilitate understanding and integration process of NDEs for patients. Due to the impact of medical staff reaction to patients’ experiences, and the lack of research on NDEs which described the elements, this study aimed to explain the elements of Iranian patients’ NDEs.

This qualitative study was performed using a descriptive phenomenological approach. The subjects of the study consisted of 10 people with NDE. They were selected through purposive sampling method. Data were collected via individual tape-recorded interviews, and simultaneously analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step analysis method.

Through data analysis, 113 codes were extracted which were classified under 11 semantic codes. Then, the 4 main themes of cognitive, spiritual, emotional, and paranormal were extracted from the experiences of the participants.

The findings suggest that some patients, during cardiac arrest and resuscitation operation, have experiences which usually follow inappropriate reactions of medical staff. So, accurate knowledge about the NDEs, and appropriate interventions can help patients in coping with their NDEs.