Hur upplever sjuksköterskor vårdandet i livets slutskede? : En beskrivande litteraturöversikt

Background: Even though palliative care at the end of life encompasses a holistic perspective with a focus on the patient and involving relatives, deficiencies in care are experienced from a patient and relative perspective. Patients report that negative treatment may lead to a loss of dignity. Laws and policy documents target the work of nurses, where nurses are responsible for individualizing care to promote self-determination and quality of life, preserve dignity and relieve symptoms in end-of-life care. Aim: To describe nurses’ experiences of palliative care at the end of life. Method: A general literature review based on articles with qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method designs. Results: Nurses experienced several obstacles in end-of-life care, but also opportunities. Lack of time, staff shortages and lack of knowledge emerged as clear obstacles, while expanding education was seen as an opportunity for the future. In addition, relatives, communication and team collaboration were perceived to be both opportunities and obstacles for patient care at the end of life. Conclusion: Increased education is needed for nurses in the field and organizational factors such as lack of time and staff shortages were obstacles to the implementation of good care at the end of life. Therefore, it is important to further investigate these factors in order to enable the best possible care at the end of life.