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Background: Inpatient oncology nurses regularly care for patients at or near the end of life. Given increasing attention to risk of compassion fatigue in this setting, we conducted a qualitative study to explore nurses’ perspectives on the nature and meaning of their positive relationships with patients who were seriously ill or dying. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 24 registered nurses (RN)s working on an inpatient medical oncology unit at an academic medical center. We used a semi-structured interview guide to elicit RNs’ descriptions of ‘good’ relationships they had with patients/families with attention to aspects that made these relationships meaningful. Using a framework approach, including an iterative coding process, two team members independently coded all interview data (Kappa = .80) and worked with a multidisciplinary team to identify themes. Results: RNs (95.8% female; 95.8% non …