Reflections on Knowing, Not Knowing and Being in Palliative Care Nursing

Abstract

Responses to questions from dying people and their families are as individual as each nurse, patient, family member or situation. This is well recognised and an unspoken truth in palliative care practice This paper explores the subjective nature of knowledge in palliative care generated through capturing moments of practice and subsequent reflections. This demonstrates how the author uses her model of care to open a space that enables the person and their family to find meaning from their experience and articulate what they need at the time. The author identifies her interest in the paradoxical reality of knowing and not knowing and describes how that paradox contributes to her role in supporting individual’s needs within their realities.