Family caregivers' experiences of end-of-life care in the acute hospital setting. A qualitative study.
Svala Berglind Robertson, Elísabet Hjörleifsdóttir, Þórhalla Sigurðardóttir
PMID 34382701WHAT IT FOUND
Family caregivers of people who had died in an acute hospital ward valued nurses' warm presence, clear communication, privacy and symptom control.
The commotion, brief check-ins and unclear information caused distress, insecurity and fear that patients had been forgotten.
Key findings
01Family caregivers described a strong need for a quiet, private ward space where they could be with their loved one and speak without being overheard.
02Nurses' compassionate attitude, warm presence and respectful touch were central to caregivers' sense that care was secure and dignified.
03Caregivers felt insecure when nurses only popped in, when information about imminent death was unclear, and when they could not relieve the patient's distress.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used retrospective interviews, so memories of care may be incomplete or affected by grief. Participation was voluntary, so caregivers with certain experiences may have been over- or under-represented. Four of the nineteen who accepted did not complete interviews, so the analysed sample was smaller than the recruited sample. It was conducted in a single acute hospital ward in Iceland, so transferability may be limited. The interviews were conducted in 2016, although the authors state care remained substantially similar. No member checking was done. The findings are family caregivers' perceptions, not patient outcomes or measures of nurse-delivered care quality.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that specific nurse behaviours improve patient outcomes or reduce family grief. The study describes caregivers' retrospective perceptions in an acute hospital; it did not test an intervention or measure outcomes.