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Background: An essential aspect of palliative care nursing is to conserve the dignity of the patient. A Dignity Care Intervention (DCI) has been developed in Scotland to facilitate this role for nurses. The DCI is now being adapted to a Swedish context (DCI-SWE) and a central step is to identify culturally relevant, dignity-conserving care actions. These care actions will be incorporated into the DCI-SWE. Therefore, the aim of this study was to suggest care actions for conserving dignity in palliative care from the perspectives of the patients, significant others (SOs), and health care professionals (HPs) in municipality care in Sweden. Methods: This study used a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. Data from 20 participants were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with patients (n = 3), SOs (n = 4), two focus groups with nurses (n = 9) and one focus group with physicians (n = 4) in two Swedish municipalities. These data were deductively analysed using qualitative content analysis with the Chochinov model of dignity as framework. Results: With the Chochinov model of dignity as a framework, care actions based on suggestions from the participants were identified and presented under three themes: Illness related concerns, Dignity conserving repertoire, and Social dignity inventory. The study found both specific concrete care actions and more general approaches. Such general approaches were found to be relevant for several dignity related issues as all-embracing attitudes and behaviours. However, these general approaches could also be relevant as specific care actions to conserve dignity in relation to certain issues. Care actions were also found to be linked to each other, showing the importance of a holistic perspective in conserving dignity. Conclusions: As part of the adaption of the DCI from a Scottish to a Swedish context, this study added relevant care actions for collaborative planning of individualised care in mutual dialogues between nurses and those they care for. The adapted intervention, DCI-SWE, has the potential to help the nurses in providing palliative care of evidence-based quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The transition from life-prolonging to palliative care (PC) can be challenging often characterized by psychical, physiological, social and existential changes. Knowledge of how to support the patient and family in this specific care phase is lacking, and this area needs to be further explored. The aim of this study was to investigate strategies that registered nurses (RNs) use to ease the transition from life-prolonging care to PC for patients with incurable disease. Methods: The study has a descriptive design. Fourteen RNs working in a specialized PC unit were interviewed. The data were analysed using content analysis. Results: The RNs’ strategies can be described under the categories “Getting to know the patient and creating a relationship”, “Providing support”, “Adapting to individuals’ needs” and “Enabling conversations”. Conclusion: The findings show that the RNs in this population used strategies that not only took time but also required knowledge about the transition process and required the ability to identify and meet patients’ and families’ unique needs. Patients’ difficult and exposed situation needs to be addressed through a structured follow-up after informing about the change from life-prolonging care to PC. RNs have a unique role of supporting both the patient and the family in the transition from life-prolonging care to PC for patients with incurable disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]