Background: Increasing numbers of patients have a desire to die in their own homes. This leads to close relatives becoming cares, sometimes whether they want or not. A nurse’s support for relatives is one of four cornerstones in palliative care, but previous research has not shown what support close relatives need.

Aim: This study aimed to describe relatives’ experiences in palliative homecare.

Method: This study was conducted through a literature search based on qualitative methods. Nine articles were analyzed in five steps according to Friberg’s qualitative content analysis for literature-based studies. Two electronic databases; Cinahl and PubMed were used for the search.

Results: The result of this study shows that close relatives experience a responsibility for the patient and that their last time in life should be good. A feeling of always having to be available was common. To experience security, it was of importance for the relatives to be well informed about the patient and that it was a continuity among the staff. Many relatives experienced a loss of privacy and put their own needs aside, which resulted in an experience of loneliness and isolation.

Conclusion: For the relatives to be able to maintain their health, both the need of the patient and the relative need to be seen by the nurse.