Antecedents
Antecedents are events and occurrences that should be made clear prior to the onset of a concept (Walker & Avant 2005). The antecedents of the concept of dying with dignity include approaching death, increased pain, reduced quality of life, increased dependency, lower life expectancy, despair, depression, anxiety and increased desire for death (Chochinov et al. 2004). They also include loss of independence, inability to participate in exhilarating activities, loss of dignity and uncontrollable pain (Loggers et al. 2013). Interaction between caregiver and patient on the verge of death, existence of moral values in the hospital (Hall et al. 2009), maintaining human dignity as patient rights and professional ethics (Ostlund et al. 2012), professionalism and reflective thinking of the nurse in providing care (Anderberg et al. 2007) and belief in the dignity of self and others (Griffin-Heslin 2005) are also antecedent of dying with dignity.