title: Being-with dying: authenticity in end-of-life encounters.
abstract: Families and their dying members have notably unmet needs. This is in large part due to health professionals being unprepared to be authentic (emotionally appropriate, purposive, and responsible) in end-of-life encounters. Martin Heidegger's interpretive phenomenology informed this study, providing background, structures, language, and metaphors to interpret narratives for patterns of authentic being-with dying among nurses who attend to dying. Semistructured interviews elicited tacit knowledge imbedded in the experiences of those nurses and showed how they comfort themselves in end-of-life situations. Patterns emerged in a presence of authentic being-with dying, which assisted persons in their transitions toward a peaceful death. Patterns are explicated in a 5-point framework, which paralleled Heidegger's structures of authentic being-toward-death.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Lousiville, Lousiville, KY, USA. vlseno01@verizon.net
authors.forename: Virginia L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Seno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D003142:Communication; D004645:Empathy; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods*; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States