Assisting planning
Consciously preparing for death, usually
centred on the patient planning his or her own
funeral, requires considerable courage on the
part of the dying person and great sensitivity
on the part of the nurse. However, there is
evidence that patients receive spiritual as well
as practical benefits from carrying out such
‘death work’ (McSherry 2011). It is possible
that patients can derive some sense of
accomplishment from finding an acceptable conclusion to their life. Also, the process
by which decisions are reached may involve
beneficial life review and completion of
unfinished business