Terminal fears and panic

Abstract

A terminally-ill patient is being cared for at home by relatives who have no medical or nursing experience but who are doing their best and are well supported by the holistic care of the community teams. As death becomes imminent, the relatives find themselves out of their depth, they panic and dial 999. The patient is rushed to Accident & Emergency (A & E) and is possibly dead on arrival or shortly afterwards. It is the relatives who now need nursing care, to help them through this totally unexpected upheaval. Aspects of this scenario are explored in this paper.