Background:  Palliative care is a care situation that involves the living conditions of both the patients and the relatives. Palliative care is based on four cornerstones; symptom relief, teamwork, communication and next of kin support. That one of the cornerstones of palliative care consists of next of kin makes it important for the healthcare staff to include next of kin early in this care process so that next of kin are given the opportunity to prepare for the death. 

Aim: The aim was to describe the experience of being next of kin to persons in late palliative care.  

Method:  A literature review by Fribergs method (2012) with collected data from the databases PubMed and CINAHL Complete. Restrictions used were Peer reviewed, Full text, all adult and delimitations of years between 2005-2020. 

Results: It emerged two categories; The care relationship with the healthcare staff and Confirmation and participation. Under the category, The care relationship with the healthcare staff a subcategory was identified; Information and communication and under the category Confirmation and participation, five subcategories was identified; Responsibility, Next of kins experiences of support, Powerlessness and dignity and Preparation for death. 

Conclusion: Various factors affected the next of kin during the palliative phase in both negative and positive ways as it can be a challenge to be close to someone in the final stages of life. In order to be able to handle this difficult situation, next of kin have demonstrated that they feel a need to be involved during the care process. To handle the situation, close relatives felt that communication, information and support was particularly important and something that next of kin could experience as both positive and negative.