title: 'Making sense': nurses' experiences  of changing practice in caring for dying patients in New Zealand.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore nurses' experiences of a top-down change that involved the introduction of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a qualitative design, two focus groups were conducted with a total of ten nurses and five semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with senior nurse managers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The nurses viewed their experience with the LCP positively, highlighting an improvement in their knowledge base regarding care of the dying. 'Making sense' was a key theme that reflected how the nurses attempted to manage the impact of the change on their own practice and on the nursing team.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Organisations need to invest skilled manpower, time, and resources into supporting nurses in their transitions. The benefits of such investment are an increased likelihood of implementing evidence-based care and sustained practice and organisational change. For patients and their families and friends this investment will result in tangible improvements in the delivery of treatment and care at a time in their lives when they are most vulnerable.
authors.affiliation: Auckland City Hospital, Private Bag 92-024, Auckland, 1023, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thurston
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waterworth
mesh_terms: D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009520:New Zealand; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses; D015279:Organizational Culture; D013727:Terminal Care