Hospice nurses frequently encounter patients and families under tremendous emotional distress, yet the communication techniques they use in emotionally charged situations have rarely been investigated. In this study, researchers sought to examine hospice nurses’ use of validation communication techniques, which have been shown in prior research to be effective in supporting individuals experiencing emotional distress.

Researchers performed a directed content analysis of audiorecordings of 65 hospice nurses’ home visits by identifying instances when nurses used validation communication techniques and rating the level of complexity of those techniques.

All nurses used validation communication techniques at least once during their home visits. Use of lower level (i.e., more basic) techniques was more common than use of higher level (i.e., more complex) techniques.

Although hospice nurses appear to use basic validation techniques naturally, benefit may be found in the use of higher level techniques, which have been shown to result in improved clinical outcomes in other settings.

Many family caregivers and hospice patients experience role changes resulting from advancing illness and the need for increased caregiver responsibility. Successful navigation of conflicts that arise because of these role transitions has been linked to higher quality of patient care and improved caregiver bereavement adjustment. Nursing communication with patients and their caregivers plays an important role in facilitating these transitions. Our objective is to describe patient-caregiver-nurse communication during transitions at end of life.

A secondary, qualitative analysis was conducted on transcripts. Using an iterative process of constant comparison, coders inductively categorized nurse, caregiver, and patient communication behavior into overarching themes. Participants were home hospice nurses and cancer patient/spouse caregiver dyads; participants were >45 years of age, English speaking, and cognitively able to participate. Research took place in the home during nurse visits.

Nineteen unique home hospice visits were analyzed. Patient-caregiver conflict occurred in two major content themes (1) negotiating transitions in patient independence and (2) navigating caregiver/patient emotions (e.g., frustration, sadness). Nurse responses to transition conflict included problem-solving, mediating, or facilitating discussions about conflicts. Nurse responses to emotional conflict included validation and reassurance.

Our findings provide insight into the topics and processes involved in patient and caregiver transitions in home hospice and the role hospice nursing communication plays in mediating potential conflict. Nurses are often asked to take on the role of mediator, often with little conflict resolution communication education; results can be used for nursing education.

Our intention was to describe and compare the perspectives of national hospice thought leaders, hospice nurses, and former family caregivers on factors that promote or threaten family caregiver perceptions of support.

Nationally recognized hospice thought leaders (n = 11), hospice nurses (n = 13), and former family caregivers (n = 14) participated. Interviews and focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed. Data were coded inductively, and codes were hierarchically grouped by topic. Emergent categories were summarized descriptively and compared across groups.

Four categories linked responses from the three participant groups (95%, 366/384 codes): (1) essentials of skilled communication (30.6%), (2) importance of building authentic relationships (28%), (3) value of expert teaching (22.4%), and (4) critical role of teamwork (18.3%). The thought leaders emphasized communication (44.6%), caregivers stressed expert teaching (51%), and nurses highlighted teamwork (35.8%). Nurses discussed teamwork significantly more than caregivers (z = 2.2786), thought leaders discussed communication more than caregivers (z = 2.8551), and caregivers discussed expert teaching more than thought leaders (z = 2.1693) and nurses (z = 2.4718; all values of p < 0.05).

Our findings suggest differences in priorities for caregiver support across family caregivers, hospice nurses, and thought leaders. Hospice teams may benefit from further education and training to help cross the schism of family-centered hospice care as a clinical ideal to one where hospice team members can fully support and empower family caregivers as a hospice team member.

The two goals of our study were to (1) identify which of five types of social support (Informational, Esteem, Emotional, Tangible, Belonging) are most cited by hospice nurses and family caregivers and (2) determine the match in perception of support needs.

As part of a larger multiphase project, focus groups were conducted with former family caregivers and hospice nurses to discuss their experiences of home hospice care and to gather their opinions on the important issues involved in that care. Transcripts of focus group discussions were coded for support type (Informational, Esteem, Emotional, Tangible, Belonging) based on definitions from the literature. Nurse and caregiver data were compared to assess for potential match.

Analysis of coded data suggested that nurses see different types of support to be needed in equal measure across their caseloads, while caregivers expressed priorities for some types of support. Illustrative examples of each type of support are provided and discussed.

Because matching support provided with the type of support desired has been linked to improved physical and psychological outcomes, it is important to focus on this match in healthcare populations particularly vulnerable to psychological stress, including family caregivers of home hospice patients. This research has implications for interventions to match support provision to caregiver needs, or for education for home hospice providers to ensure that they are not only sensitive to the possibility of a broad range of needs but also to the necessity to tailor care to those needs.