Being Here and Now: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis of Nursing Presence in End-of-Life Care

Nursing presence is an important therapeutic and diagnostic modality in patient-centered care and decision-making during end-of-life (EOL) care. Nurses cultivate presence through intentional awareness and actions to support patients, yet there is a paucity of relevant literature regarding nursing presence in EOL care. An evolutionary concept analysis employing Rodger’s techniques was conducted with 20 international research studies and nine analyses of nursing presence between 1992 and 2023. The attributes, antecedents, and consequences of nursing presence in EOL care were described, a theoretical definition was proffered, and suggestions for its clinical application and future research directions were offered. As evidenced by this concept analysis, nursing presence in EOL care is an intentional, temporal, spatial, and intrapersonal relationship. More research and analysis of this concept are needed, especially in long-term care settings given continued growth in the long-term care patient population and the prevalence of nurses leading EOL care in that setting.