Gaining insight into the care of hospitalized dying patients: An interpretative narrative analysis

Narrative ethics isa useful tool for gaining insight into the care of hospi talized dying patients. We used narrative analysis to interpret the medical records of 200 adult deaths at our institution. Prominent subjects which e merged from this review include documentation of care; relationships betwee n patients, families and clinicians; and the influence of time, uncertainty , ambiguity, resource allocation, and spirituality on the course of care. R esearch on narratives can help script more empathic and compassionate care of the dying by demonstrating that every death is a story waiting to be tol d. J Pain Symptom Manage 2000;20:399-407. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Commi ttee, 2000.