Hospice Patients' End-of-Life Dreams and Visions: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.
Elisa Rabitti, Silvio Cavuto, Matías Eduardo Díaz Crescitelli and 2 others
PMID 36947427WHAT IT FOUND
Hospice patients often described end-of-life dreams and visions as real, meaningful, and usually comforting, but some found them distressing or linked to medication.
They wanted to talk about them without being dismissed as delirious.
Key findings
01Dreams and waking visions involved encounters with deceased or living loved ones, pets, spiritual or unknown figures, travel, places, and traumatic events.
02Reported experiences were emotionally significant and could be comforting, but some were distressing, frightening, or linked to medication.
03Patients often wanted to share the experiences but avoided it for fear of judgment; when they did talk, it could bring relief and help them make meaning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only six articles from five unique studies were included, so the evidence base is small. The authors reported mixed quality, including three low-quality articles, and did not exclude articles for quality. Most included studies were conducted in the US, so the findings may be most informative for western societies. The review focused on meanings rather than causes, and it did not establish treatment effects. The stated search population included a limitation to oncological cases, but included study samples also reported other diagnoses.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding was from the Italian Ministry of Health-Ricerca Corrente Annual Program 2024.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that a specific communication intervention reduces distress or improves end-of-life outcomes. It synthesizes patients' descriptions, and some experiences were distressing or attributed to medication.