Nurses should encourage people to talk about dying
Demystify palliative care and advance care planning by encouraging patients to talk about death and their wishes and fears
It can be difficult to talk about dying. It’s a topic that can make both patient and professional feel scared, anxious or even just uncomfortable. But opening up these discussions is incredibly important because they allow a person to voice their hopes, wishes and fears for the future while they are still able to do so.
We know that many are struggling to articulate thoughts about their death. Research by Macmillan Cancer Support shows that more than three quarters of people with cancer have thought about the fact that they may die from the disease, but worryingly only 8% of these people had spoken to their healthcare team about the subject.
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