People with protracted and life-limiting illness engage in end-of-life transitions as they prepare for death. The end of life is a time of mystery that elicits uncertainties in the form of questions, worries, and doubts. If not managed properly, uncertainties can contribute to emotional distress and feelings of lost control. Currently, uncertainty occurring at the end of life is underresearched. Phenomenology was used to explore the experience of uncertainty for 6 hospice patients using semistructured interviews. A 4-member, interpretive team analyzed the data. The participants were asked to describe the uncertainties that they had while they were dying. Interestingly, most of the stories about uncertainty were spiritual in nature. An overall theme of “uncertainty as a bridge” emerged from the data as the way uncertainties affected their dying. Two subthemes of “uncertainties about dying” and “uncertainties about important relationships” also emerge as the areas of greatest concern for participants. These findings support uncertainty as an important phenomenon for people preparing for death and one that providers of end-of-life care should understand.

Spirituality is salient to persons nearing the end of life (EOL). Unfortunately, researchers have not been able to agree on a universal definition of spirituality reducing the effectiveness of spiritual research. To advance spiritual knowledge and build an evidence base, researchers must develop creative ways to describe spirituality as it cannot be explicitly defined. A literature review was conducted to determine the common attributes that comprise the essence of spirituality, thereby creating a common ground on which to base spiritual research. Forty original research articles (2002 to 2012) focusing on EOL and including spiritual definitions/descriptions were reviewed. Analysis identified five attributes that most commonly described the essence of spirituality, including meaning, beliefs, connecting, self-transcendence, and value.

Speculum self-insertion may encourage women's attendance at clinics for regular screening. Early diagnosis and treatment will result in better health outcomes for women, families and the community at large.