Terminally ill elderly patient's experiences, attitudes, and needs: A qualitative study

The aim of this qualitative study was to clarify how terminally ill elderly patients in acute wards perceive the end of life and what are their needs and wishes regarding care. The patients, despite their advanced illness, wished to be treated actively and hoped for more conversations with doctors about active care. They were content with their daily care but evaluated the care in light of the great workload of the nurses, forgiving them for not having time to talk to individual patients. They had specific modest wishes, but were reluctant to express even these because of concern about troubling their caregivers. We conclude that death remained a distant abstraction for these patients with a terminal prognosis. The challenge is to create an intimate caring atmosphere, where the issues related to dying may be elaborated in interaction and the last wishes expressed in a safe atmosphere.