PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe what critical care nurses perceived about life-sustaining treatment at end of life.METHODS: A qualitative content analysis method was utilized. The unit of analysis was interview text obtained from fifty critical care nurses of a general hospital.RESULTS: Seven categories in two content areas were abstracted. In the negative perception area, the following five categories were abstracted: patients' suffering, dying with damaged dignity, patients' isolation from family members, regret about choosing life-sustaining treatment, and family members' burden. In the positive perception area, the following two categories were abstracted: willingness to sustain life and duty as family members.CONCLUSIONS: Nurses have better competencies pertaining to understanding patients' responses and suffering than any other health care professions do. Nurses should play an important role in advocating for patients and their family in the process of end-of-life care decision making.