Characteristics of Nursing Care for Terminally Ill Patients in Hospice/Palliative Care Unit

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of nursing care for patient with terminally ill in the hospice/palliative care units. Semi-structured interviews on “communication, care, spiritual pain care and prediction of worsening of symptoms” were conducted, incorporating items indicated as important principles of palliative care by Lugton et al. Sixteen nurses at five hospice/ palliative care facilities in urban areas of Japan were surveyed in 2013, and results were analyzed qualitatively. Following characteristics by hospice/palliative care nurses (HPN) were categorized as [HPN sharing meaningful time with the patient] and [HPN’s continual attempts to understand the world in which the patient lives] in the communication; as [HPN providing comfortable care so that patients can value their last moments] and [HPN’s efforts to attend to patients so they can die as they hope to] in the care;