Towards a "good" death: End-of-life narratives constructed in an intensivecare unit

End-of-life decisions regarding the withdrawal and withholding of life supp orting technology have become commonplace within intensive care units (ICUs ). In this paper, we examine the dialogue between ICU team members and fami lies regarding limitation of treatment as a therapeutic narrative - that is , as a story which frames therapeutic events as well as the critically ill patient's experience in a meaningful and psychologically comforting way for families and health care providers alike. The key themes of these end-of-l ife narratives are discussed, as well as the qualities that the stories sha re with other narratives of the same genre.