Human relationships in patients' end-of-life: a qualitative study in a hospice ward

Living in a hospice department is an intense experience for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. End-of-life care aims to conduct vulnerable dying patients towards a painless and peaceful death. The importance of a strong staff-patient relationship and the perspective of pain and suffering from patients has already been studied. This study aimed to explore patients' inner needs living in hospice through a qualitative research approach. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in the hospice department at ARNAS Civico in Palermo, Italy. From a qualitative research point of view, a significant sample of ten dying patients was interviewed. Data were collected until saturation by in-depth interview using a semi-structured interview guide, and Colaizzi's method was used. Five themes emerged: experiencing hospice, hospice staff, family role, coping with the disease, and death. Human relationships seem to represent a fundamental key in patients' end-of-life, especially in their family fondness. Predictably, terminally ill patients seem to fear pain and incoming death. Even though patients had everything they needed in the hospice, their main thoughts were always focused on human relationships. End-of-life medicine should improve the quality of time that each patient could spend with significant others to improve end-of-life care.