Research Article

Concordance between Experiences of Bereaved Relatives, Physicians, and Nurses with Hospital End-of-Life Care: Everyone Has Their “Own Truth”

Table 6

Communication about impending death and its relation to patients and relatives’ awareness, their death preparation, and satisfaction with care ().

Patient (according to relative)Relative
Was aware of impending deathWas in peaceSaid goodbyeWas aware of impending deathWas satisfied about symptom management during final 24 h.Was satisfied about social and emotional support final 24 h.Said goodbyeWas present at deathbed
(%)a (%)a (%)a (%)a (%)a (%)a (%)a (%)a

Physician reported to have informed relative about the patient’s impending death () and relative reported to have been informed
 Yes11943 (36)50 (42)62 (52)75 (63) 98 (82) 90 (76) 76 (64) 110 (92)
 No5516 (29)23 (42)22 (40)15 (27) 38 (69) 29 (53) 20 (36) 41 (75)
Physician reported to have discussed impending death with the patient
 Yes11447 (41) 52 (46)66 (58) 61 (54)85 (71)71 (62)67 (59) 98 (86)
 No8612 (14) 25 (29)23 (27) 35 (41)62 (72)57 (66)34 (40) 66 (77)
Nurse reported to have discussed impending death with the patient
 Yes7235 (49) 39 (54)50 (69) 39 (54)56 (77)52 (72)48 (67) 68 (94)
 No12826 (20) 39 (30)40 (31) 58 (45)93 (73)78 (61)55 (43) 99 (77)

Row percentages.
Italic = in table (Pearson’s Chi square).