Understanding nurses' experiences of providing end-of-life care in the US hospital setting.

Hermeneutic phenomenological methods were used to explore nurses' perspectives on the phenomenon of end-of-life care within the hospital setting. Three main themes described participants' experiences: "Confronting Challenges," "Coming to Understand End-of-Life Care," and "Transforming the Understanding of End-of-Life Care into Nursing Practice." Recommendations for education, practice, and research were derived.

Sacred healing stories told at the end of life.

Introduction: Cancer is a challenging disease to diagnose and treat, and oftentimes even with the best medical intervention, it spreads and is deemed incurable, requiring a shift from cure to end-of-life care. This study used a spirituality measure and the PATS© storytelling intervention developed by the principal investigator to better understand the experience of being diagnosed with cancer and being told no further curative treatments are warranted.

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study was to implement a storytelling approach to explore the experience of living with terminal cancer.