https://www.mdu.se/

Background: Within palliative care at the end of life, the meeting with nurses has great significance for the patient's relatives. However, there are divided opinions about how nurses and the patient's relatives experience the meeting with each other. Nurses have high demands on themselves regarding their competence and ability to create meaningful relationships. The meeting between the patient's relatives and nurses can be decisive for the relatives and influence and change their entire image of healthcare. Aim: To describe nurses' experiences of meeting the patient's relatives during end-of-life care. Method: A literature study with a qualitative approach. Eleven caring science articles with a qualitative method were analyzed. Result: The first theme that emerged through the analysis was Being limited with two associated subthemes eperiences of inadequacy and lack of education. The second theme that emerged in the analysis was being available with good communication and commitment as sub-themes. Conclusion: The nurses described both positive and negative experiences of meeting the patient's relatives during end-of-life care. Through good communication and commitment, the nurses were able to meet the needs of the relatives. It emerged that there was a lack of educational opportunities in the treatment of relatives, which resulted in a feeling of inadequacy. The nurses' skills and knowledge need to be expanded in order to achieve a meaningful and rewarding meeting with relatives. 

Keywords: End of life care, Experiences, Meeting, Nurses, Relatives, Qualitative literature study.