Sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att ge palliativ vård vid livets slutskede

Sammanfattning: Background: Palliative care started for patients who had a cancer diagnosis in the 1950s. Palliative care aims to alleviate health-related suffering, whether it is physical, mental, social or spiritual. The nurse's role in palliative care is to be able to meet the patient's and relatives' needs at the end of life. Death is an unavoidable event in end-of-life care, yet many emotions can arise. Aim: The aim was to describe nurses' experiences of providing palliative care at the end of life Method: The literature study was based on 12 qualitative scientific articles that were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. Results: In the results, three categories were identified; Relieve suffering, Emotional experiences and Lack of Skills and further five subcategories. The results showed that nurses experienced emotional impact and that there was a lack of knowledge among nurses. Conclusions: The nurses' experience of providing palliative care is complex, they experience suffering because of their own compassion. Lack of knowledge and experience leads to a heavy burden for the nurse. More research and education is needed in the area.