The Experience of Dying

The ethnographic study found that lack of attention to cultural needs, cognitive status, inadequate staffing, and inappropriate and inadequate communication between health care providers and nursing home residents and their families were the predominant factors that influenced the experience of dying.

Abstract

Future research is needed on: The experience of dying for patients with dementia, for people in a comatose state, and for non-English speaking patients; symptom management; health care provider/patient-family interaction; the burden of caregiving for families; and the consequences of the constraints within our health care system for people who are dying in various settings.