Background: Effective communication is important in providing quality care to families at the end-of-life. In the end-of-life situations, the nurses' views on how to communicate with the family are not well understood.
Aim: This study was conducted to explore the nurses' experiences of their communication with families of patients at the end-of-life situations.
Methods: The authors used standards for reporting qualitative research. The data were analyzed by conventional content analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Iranian nurses who had the experiences of dealing with patients' families at the end-of-life.
Results: Nurses' perceptions of communication with families emerged base on the main theme: "Disrupted communication" consisting of two categories: "restricted communication" and "abortive communication."
Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the need to increase the professional and ethical sensitivity of nurses in dealing with patients' families at the end-of-life.
Keywords: communication; content analysis; dying; end-of-life care; family.