This study tested the hypothesis that nurses' attitudes toward caring for the dying would be systematically related to the type of nursing unit in which they work. The competing hypothesis suggested that it may not be the structural variable of work setting, but the nurse's experience and, possibly, learned ability to cope with problems surrounding the care of the dying. The major finding was that work setting is a more significant force in shaping attitudes than is experience. The results suggest that nurses working in a curative setting, such as surgery or pediatrics, cannot easily escape the saliency of their unit's curative orientation and sentiment order.
