Att leva i väntan på döden

: En litteraturbaserad studie

Abstract

Background describes how the existence of people in their final stages in life changes andhow they can experience emotional turns. People about to die need good and secure carewhich is organized so that new knowledge can be practised. Palliative care is an importantpart of the final stages in life and the object is to alleviate people’s experiences of sufferingand violation and to preserve the patients’ integrity. The nurse’s care should be aimed atincreasing the knowledge about how health can be preserved and restored, how suffering canbe alleviated and how the nurse can contribute to a more peaceful existence until the momentof death. Purpose of the study was to describe people’s experiences of living in the finalstages in life. The method was a literature based study of autobiographies with qualitativecontents analysis. In the result an overall theme and seven themes were identified. Theoverall theme was to live whilst waiting for death. The themes were hovering between hopeand despair, to live in uncertainty, to lose self-esteem, to feel powerlessness, fear of leavingloved ones, guilt, fear of being abandoned and to live in the present. The conclusion is thatpeople’s experiences and emotions when they are waiting for death is complex. The lucidintervals as well as the bad moments can be made better. Family centered care can form thebasis for the nurse’s care in the final stages of life.