Many healthcare professionals either feel too inhibited to talk about death to a dying patient
or consider that it will undermine wellbeing. Experienced nurses can help prepare and …

Effective communication is central to showing empathy at the end of someone's life, yet it is
also perhaps the most difficult skill to get right. As a result, communication is one of the …

Patients use many different coping mechanisms when they are facing a terminal diagnosis,
but it should not be assumed that they want to talk to nurses about the terminal nature of …

While the nurse works on developing communication skills with the dying patient and his or
her family, the goal should be to build an understanding of the patient and family's needs …

Nursing87, August other nurses frequently ask me for advice. They tell me they want to offer
support, but find themselves holding back for fear of upsetting the patient or going against …

Nurses must guard against an ageist approach to care--older people do not necessarily
need'protecting'from bad news. Excellent palliative care is required by all patients with a …

Many patients and families can give an extremely detailed account of receiving serious
news, even years after the experience. This communication between the health professional …

Julie Griffie is a clinical nurse specialist at Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee, WI. Paula Nelson-
Marten is an associate professor of nursing at the School of Nursing, University of Colorado …

Good communication with patients can be a powerful tool in palliative care. However,
discussing fears and anxieties at length is also something that many nurses find difficult …

Communication skills are paramount in effective delivery of palliative care. The emphasis in
much of the previous literature has been on physician communication and also has been …