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Resumo

This study uses Australian data based on interviews with nurses and participant observation in an in‐patient hospice and a community based hospice service to demonstrate how hospice nurses perceive stress in their work environment and cope with caring for dying patients. Stressors are discussed within a cultural context and are viewed as threats to the nurses' shared system of values which centres on the Good Death. The Good Death is conceptualised as a series of social events that involve the dying person as well as the other interactants who may include family, friends and health professionals. The death is defined as 'good' if there is an awareness, acceptance and preparation for death by all those concerned. The nurses' coping strategies and social supports are negotiated within the context of the hospice environment, and relate directly to the protection and affirmation of the nurses' shared value system.

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