Description of good patient care at the end of life.

OBJECTIVES: The study's objective was to describe nurses' perceptions of and experiences with good end-of-life care in Korea.

METHODS: A qualitative descriptive design was applied with 11 Korean nurses who worked in hospice and palliative care settings. Individual 90-120 minute interviews were conducted and content analysis was performed.

RESULTS: The following four major themes were extracted from questions regarding nurses' experiences of good end-of-life care: 1) providing appropriate care for symptom management, 2) being present, 3) establishing good relationships, and 4) tailoring care for individualized needs.

CONCLUSION: Korean nurses recognized that good end-of life care occurred within multiple ways of knowing and within multiple paradigms. Providing good care is a process of knowledge integration. To improve end-of-life care, the nursing discipline must apply various educational methods including multiple ways of knowing and paradigms.