'The secret source of humor is sorrow...': Humor as a coping mechanism in the dying process

Humor in the dying process is an elusive topic of study, for at its core, it offers many contradictions. One key to humor is that it embraces pain and suffering while alleviating it. This qualitative project is an examination of humor through the lenses of psychoanalytic, existential, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral, and sociological perspectives to understand the role of humor in the dying process. A particular form of humor, gallows humor, was examined to understand its role in coping with death.;This study explored the experiences of hospice care nurses with humor working in palliative care settings. Ten licensed nurses were interviewed using a semi-structured qualitative interview format. The interview was structured to elicit nurses experience of patient use of humor in the dying process. Additionally nurses' experience of staff, and family use of humor was investigated as well as the use of gallows humor in the palliative care setting.;The nurses stated that they have all used and witnessed humor in the work they do with patients, families and fellow staff. An evolving typology of patients' humor consisting of silliness, bodily function jokes and lightheartedness was established. Nurses consistently cited stress reduction, enhancing quality of life, and fostering acceptance of death, and building stronger alliances with the patients and their families as the functions of humor in their work.;The vast majority of the participants noted that humor is essential to the work they do, as it provides stress reduction and a necessary counterbalance to the bleak nature of their job.;Nurses identified examples of gallows humor in the work they do, particularly among staff, as a means of coping with anxiety associated with dying. Humor's adaptive value in a terminally ill population is discussed in detail, as well as implications for mental health professionals working with this population.