Gaining insight into the care of hospitalized dying patients: an interpretative narrative analysis.

Narrative ethics is a useful tool for gaining insight into the care of hospitalized dying patients. We used narrative analysis to interpret the medical records of 200 adult deaths at our institution. Prominent subjects which emergedfrom this review include documentation of care; relationships between patients, families and clinicians; and the influence of time, uncertainty, ambiguity, resource allocation, and spirituality on the course of care. Research on narratives can help script more empathic and compassionate care of the dying by demonstrating that every death is a story waiting to be told.