title: Communicating with dying patients:  a time to listen more than talk.
abstract: Effective communication is central to showing empathy at the end of someone's life, yet it is also perhaps the most difficult skill to get right. As a result, communication is one of the aspects of care that patients most often complain about (Healthcare Commission, 2007). It is widely accepted that effective communication is resource and time-intensive, although the benefits tend to outweigh these perceived drawbacks. More importantly, poor communication can have an impact on patients' decision-making in preparation for death.
authors.affiliation: University of Worcester, UK. b.nyatanga@worc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nyatanga
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D003142:Communication; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*