Introduction
Critically ill patients are often between life and death. In Thailand,
critically ill patients who are considered incurable or in a
terminal stage are often transferred to general ward units because
of the demand for beds for critically ill patients who are considered
likely to get well. Similarly, some terminally ill patients are
‘taken’ by their families to die at home. Nonetheless, these
patients are in intensive care units (ICUs) for a certain period of
time, demanding end-of-life nursing care at the same time
waiting to be discharged to their relatives, or to the general ward
units. Some of these patients die in ICUs.