The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care
Abstract Background Thirst and dry mouth are common symptoms in terminally ill patients. It is known that family members usually request drips for their dying relative. Few studies have focused on thirst in terminally ill patients and their spouses’ experience of this, leading to a knowledge gap in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Palliative Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01306-1 |
| _version_ | 1797451065777455104 |
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| author | Maria Friedrichsen Nana Waldréus Micha Milovanovic Anne Söderlund Schaller Pier Jaarsma Tiny Jaarsma |
| author_facet | Maria Friedrichsen Nana Waldréus Micha Milovanovic Anne Söderlund Schaller Pier Jaarsma Tiny Jaarsma |
| author_sort | Maria Friedrichsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Thirst and dry mouth are common symptoms in terminally ill patients. It is known that family members usually request drips for their dying relative. Few studies have focused on thirst in terminally ill patients and their spouses’ experience of this, leading to a knowledge gap in this area. Aim The aim of this study was to explore spouses’ experiences of observing and managing thirst in a dying relative admitted to specialist palliative home care. Methods A qualitative interview study with an inductive approach was conducted. Eighteen spouses caring for their husband or wife admitted to specialist palliative home care in different hospitals in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed with a reflexive thematic analysis. Results Three main themes emerged regarding spouses’ experiences of patients’ thirst: Knowledge and views of thirst; Control of fluid intake provides vital information; and Taking charge of their drinking is a life and death responsibility. Conclusions Spouses experience a responsibility to serve the dying person with fluids so that they will not get thirsty. It is so obvious and commonplace to them. To be able to fulfil this responsibility, they need to keep track of the patient’s fluid intake and know what quenches thirst. There is a need for research in this area to assist carers and patients in identifying which drinks best quench the patient’s thirst. Interventions are also needed to help provide/make available knowledge on suitable thirst-quenching drinks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:49:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a5809192a67147689f00b4d0ace58faa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-684X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T14:49:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Palliative Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-a5809192a67147689f00b4d0ace58faa2023-11-26T14:33:44ZengBMCBMC Palliative Care1472-684X2023-11-0122111010.1186/s12904-023-01306-1The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home careMaria Friedrichsen0Nana Waldréus1Micha Milovanovic2Anne Söderlund Schaller3Pier Jaarsma4Tiny Jaarsma5Palliative Education and Research Centre, Vrinnevi HospitalDepartment of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska InstitutetDepartment of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping UniversityDepartment of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping UniversityDepartment of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping UniversityDepartment of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping UniversityAbstract Background Thirst and dry mouth are common symptoms in terminally ill patients. It is known that family members usually request drips for their dying relative. Few studies have focused on thirst in terminally ill patients and their spouses’ experience of this, leading to a knowledge gap in this area. Aim The aim of this study was to explore spouses’ experiences of observing and managing thirst in a dying relative admitted to specialist palliative home care. Methods A qualitative interview study with an inductive approach was conducted. Eighteen spouses caring for their husband or wife admitted to specialist palliative home care in different hospitals in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed with a reflexive thematic analysis. Results Three main themes emerged regarding spouses’ experiences of patients’ thirst: Knowledge and views of thirst; Control of fluid intake provides vital information; and Taking charge of their drinking is a life and death responsibility. Conclusions Spouses experience a responsibility to serve the dying person with fluids so that they will not get thirsty. It is so obvious and commonplace to them. To be able to fulfil this responsibility, they need to keep track of the patient’s fluid intake and know what quenches thirst. There is a need for research in this area to assist carers and patients in identifying which drinks best quench the patient’s thirst. Interventions are also needed to help provide/make available knowledge on suitable thirst-quenching drinks.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01306-1Specialist palliative careThirstSpousesThematic analysis |
| spellingShingle | Maria Friedrichsen Nana Waldréus Micha Milovanovic Anne Söderlund Schaller Pier Jaarsma Tiny Jaarsma The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care BMC Palliative Care Specialist palliative care Thirst Spouses Thematic analysis |
| title | The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care |
| title_full | The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care |
| title_fullStr | The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care |
| title_full_unstemmed | The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care |
| title_short | The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses’ experience in specialist palliative home care |
| title_sort | responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses experience in specialist palliative home care |
| topic | Specialist palliative care Thirst Spouses Thematic analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01306-1 |
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