Teaching patient-centered care during the Silver Hour

Teaching students and clinicians about end-of-life care is an important part of healthcare. Utilizing the framework of the Silver Hour is one method of illustrating the urgent, intense comfort needs required by patients and families throughout the imminently dying process, wherever the patient may be receiving services. When death is imminent, it is extremely important to provide patient- and family-centered care as the waning moments of life transition to the first moments of death. A variety of instructional methods can be used can be used to teach students to provide multidimensional, patient-centered care at the end of life. The author begins by describing the basic concept of patient-centered care and by discussing the importance of teaching students about this level of care. Next she describes the concept of the Silver Hour, along with a discussion of how the Silver Hour relates to nursing education. She also notes the importance of both role modeling in providing patient-centered care and of drawing upon the five ways of knowing to strengthen the teaching of students about care during the Silver Hour.