To call it work somehow demeans it’: the social construction of talk in the care of terminally ill patients

The nurse has an important role in helping the terminally ill patient come to terms with the imminence of death. Such work is highly demanding and often stressful, but is work which is accorded a high moral priority by respondents in the study reported in this paper. The paper explores the ways in which nurses work to respond to patients' expressed psychosocial problems and the emphasis that they placed on providing opportunities for patients to speak about their impending death.