'We didn't want him to die on his own'--nurses' accounts of nursing dying patients.

This paper is based on nurses' accounts of their experiences of nursing dying patients, and the attitudes towards such work which they expressed. Nurses reported high levels of emotional involvement with their dying patients and expressed a preference for being honest with them about their condition. They preferred to nurse patients who were aware of their death rather than those who were not. Structural aspects of the ward organization which facilitate such action and attitudes are identified.