[Comprehensive nursing care of the terminally ill and the dying patient. Selected symptoms and interventions].
The special care and attention due to terminally ill and dying patients will be demonstrated in this contribution with the help of specifically chosen paradigm cases and examples. The paper focuses on the needs of dying patients and their (nurs ing) relatives during the last days/hours of life (48-72 hours). Noisy, rattling breathing (death-rattle) and dry mouth (xerostomia) will be introduced as selected symptoms and phenomena together with basic stimulation and subcutaneous therapy as corresponding nursing interventions. Especially subcutaneous therapy has been shown to be a simple, non-invasive, and outstandingly effective option for easing symptoms and suffering of terminally ill people. Furthermore, this contribution wants to stimulate the critical reflection of carers within their own organizational structure in order to foster patient focused, competent, and comprehensive therapy, care, and attention of terminally ill and dying patients during their last days of life.