End-of-life care : Nurses’ experiences of caring for elderly patients in a palliative phase

Background: Nurses are essential for good palliative care and their responsibility lies in relieving patients from suffering and being supportive to them and their relatives. It is required that the nurse has substantial knowledge in medical and caring treatments. Most of the palliative care is performed in a hospital or elderly care facility. Therefore, it is important to compare the differences and similarities between what the nurses experience. Aim: This study aims to describe the nurses’ own experiences of caring for elderly patients while in palliative care. Method: A literature-based study of 11 reports was performed. Friberg’s five-step model was used for the analysis. Three themes emerged from the analysis; to promote person-centered care, the feeling of not being enough and difficulties regarding the communication. Results: The results show that nurses experience that they must take on too much responsibility. They also feel that the division of labor many times is unclear to them. These factors could hinder the quality of person-centered care. The lack of time and education were two vital parts that clearly affected the nurses' experiences in a negative manner. Lastly, the results showed that communication between nurses and physicians, and between nurses and relatives did not always function adequately. Conclusion: The conclusion from this study is that nurses feel that they do not have the time or resources to perform the optimal care. Palliative care is emotionally distressing for nurses,and they need support from their employers and more experienced colleagues