Aim: The aim of the current study was to investigate nurses? experiences of caring for palliative patients in palliative home care, and to examine the coping strategies they use.Method: The study was empirical descriptive with qualitative approach. The data was collected by nine semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using manifest content analysis.Result: By analysing data three categories: Positive experiences of palliative home care, Stressful experiences of palliative home care and Problem-focused coping strategies, and 15 subcategories, were distinguished.Conclusion: Experiences of palliative home care were both of positive and challenging characters. Stressful situations were managed by problem-focused coping strategies. Nurses are in need of the work situation at home to become more ergonomic and designed to protect the nurse?s physical wellbeing.

Introduction: Palliative care is based on an active total care where the patient's independence and participation are included. Few studies have been based on a concept of freedom in relation to this target group.Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the perception the nurse has about "freedom" - its significance and meaning from an existential perspective for patients with palliative care needs.Method: A qualitative content analysis based on a narrated and written down text from focus groups with adequate examples. The starting point in the focus groups was to focus on existential issues in relation to patients near death. Based on the concept of freedom, has the printouts been analyzed, categorized and codedFindings: Nature, identity, integrity and self-esteem are important aspects for our approach to freedom but freedom is also about existential questions where hope, reconciliation, freedom and forgiveness are included.Discussion: Discussion: We all have our own definitions and meanings of freedom. The largest and perhaps most important fullest freedom is our inner freedom - our own existential freedom.

Abstract          Background: End of life is difficult to establish in patients with dementia and many patients die due to complications related to the disease. To document that care are palliative in this group of patients is not common among nurses and physicians. This may depend on that the palliative course is extended and not similar to the palliative course common among patients with cancer. Aim: To describe how the registered staff in nursing homes document the care of persons with dementia in a late palliative phase. Method: A retrospective record study with a deductive approach.

Malnutrition is a common problem for patients with cancer that leads to anxiety and frustration for the whole family. Patients with palliative cancer disease treated at home are entitled to an adequate nutrition treatment suited to individual needs. Aim: The aim of the literature review was to describe how cancer patients experience their nutriment situation before and after the introduction of parental nutrition and the experience of getting home parental nutrition. Methods: A literature study was carried out where qualitative and quantitative articles were examined. Findings: Five qualitative and five quantitative articles were examined.

Background The aim of palliative care is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and her next of kin during the patient?s end of life. Palliative care rests on the four cornerstones managing symptoms, communication and relationship, teamwork and relative support. The nurses? task is to assess the patients? physical, mental and spiritual needs according to these four cornerstones.Aim To assess nurses? experiences of treating patients at the end of life.Method Eleven academic journals that respond to the aim has been analyzed and synthesized in a literature review in order to summarize current research on the subject.

Today, palliative care is performed in several different areas. When the curative treatment is no longer effective the objective of the palliative care is to promote the best possible quality of life for dying patients, through an active and overall treatment. In their work nurses see death and the dying. To highlight and to reach an understanding of the significance of their work, this literature study's objective is, using Carnevali´s thoughts about health as a theoretical framework, to describe different aspects of nurses' experiences of working with dying patients within palliative care. Furthermore the occurrence of stress and possible stress factors will be examined, as well as the nurses' access to support and to established coping strategies..

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to highlight what is perceived as- and what is not perceived as- supportive and comforting, by the sick child in palliative care, and by its family. Method: Systematic literature review in which only scientific articles from the years 2001-2010 have been included. Analysis: A method inspired by qualitative content analysis was used. Results: The analysis revealed five categories of what the sick child and its family experienced as supportive and comforting - and what was perceived negatively - in the context of palliative care for children. The results showed that it was very important to have competent, dedicated and compassionate staff that not only care for the child but also see to the whole family.

Introduction: On the surgical wards in most hospitals in Sweden patients with different surgical needs are cared for. Patients with gastrointestinal conditions are, for example, nurtured alongside patients with urological disorders or patients in need of observation for head trauma. When the nurse, in addition to these patients, have to care for patients with palliative care needs can be perceived as problematic for nurse and patient alike.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore nurses' perceptions of care for patients with palliative care needs on an acute surgical ward, based on a person-centered perspective.Method: A focus group interview was conducted with the strategic selection of nurses from two acute surgical wards in a county hospital in western Sweden. The data from the interview were analyzed with qualitative directed, deductive content analysis with person-centered care as a theoretical framework. The theoretical background shows that person-centered care includes partnership, participation and structured documentation.Results: The results of this study show that even a fourth category, organization, emerged and needed to be reported.

One third of all Swedish people will suffer in cancer. Pain is a common symptom in cancer patients. The pain is subjective and includes several dimensions. The dimensions of pain are the physical, psychological, social and spiritual. This is a literature review and the aim with this study was to identify the pain experience in patients with cancer receiving palliative care.

The purpose of the literature review was to illuminate how family are responded to in health care and their experiences with a sick person in the palliative care. Ten articles dealing with the questions have been used. The questions emphasized how family experienced the response from people working within health care, their own situations and if they felt they were sufficiently informed. The results were presented from out in the questions in two themes families positive and negative experiences. The results show that for the families to have positive experiences of the respons, the situation and the information given, the working within health care have to make families feel part of the palliative care, to the extent they wish to participate..

The aim of the present literature review was to describe and evaluate the effects and experiences within the complementary approaches such as aromatherapy, tactile massage and acupuncture amongst palliative care patients. Search through Medline (through Pub Med) database and additional manual search was conducted. In total 16 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The result was presented under respectively category: aromatherapy, tactile massage and acupuncture. Physical and psychological effects as well as experiences from the treatments were also documented under the different complementary approaches.

AbstractBackground: Relation means the relationship between two parts. By creating a good relation between nurse and patient you can conduce a better caring. Aim: The aim of the study was to illustrate the relation within palliative care from nurse- patient perspective. Method: The study is a literature review where ten articles were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results: The findings showed that knowledge, communication, continuity, silence and availability were the most important thing for the nurse in the relationship.

The study aims to analyze conceptions of death and dying at a clinic for palliative care, using a constructivist perspective and a discourse analytical approach. The empirical material consists of interviews with staff members, documents and photographs of the environment, taking both space and materiality into account. I conclude that the studied practice is mainly characterized by a tension between a caring discourse and a medical discourse..

Background: When a patient suffer from a disease and is in need of palliative care, it is normal to have existential questions and thoughts. For some patients these questions can be painful and the nurse need to have knowledge about dealing with these kind of questions and thoughts to be able to relieve and/or prevent this kind of suffering.Aim: The aim was to describe how the nurse can prevent the existential suffering among patients with palliative care.Method: A literature-based study was based on eight qualitative studies.Results: The results showed that nurses meet patients in the palliative care environment which may suffer from existential problems when their questions and thoughts don´t get answered. It showed that the most important a nurse can do is to give time to these calls and build up a safe relation to the patient. This allows the nurse to read the patients existential questions and observing possibly suffering. The result is organized in two categories "To see and confirm" and " To listen and give support" and see subcategories " Use body language", " Create reliable relationship", respond to the existential questions", "Give the patient time", " take help from others in hard situations" and "to focus on other things"Conclusion: It is easy to only focus on the physical illness while caring for a patient and believe that it is creating suffering.

AbstractBackground: Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths, about 13% of all deaths, in 2008. Several factors can affect patients' quality of life such as physical and psychological symptoms, relationship to people around and the environment. In palliative care professionals need to have good knowledge in order to improve patient quality of life and to give them as good a life as possible in the final stages of life.Aim: The purpose of this overview study is to describe the experiences of quality of life in patients with incurable cancer.Method: We conducted an overview study that was based on ten scientific articles. All articles are qualitative studies, from the year 1995 - 2011, and are from Sweden, Finland, UK, Canada and the USA. Qualitative analysis was used to group the various themes and subthemes for overview study purpose.