Table 7 Open-ended responses

• I would tell nurses that if they say they are going to do 10 things, they should do them.

• If I get angry or in a bad mood, keep talking to me.

• I would ask nurses to take my family into account when providing information.

• I would love it if nurses explained to me what is planned for the day, so there is no uncertainty, and I can organise myself.

• That nurses make eye contact, that they respect designated rest schedules and don’t try to wake me up because they must take my blood pressure at 7 in the morning, unless it´s strictly necessary.

• It was very unpleasant for me that they sometimes talked as if I were not in the room, for example, when they were helping me to shower, a nurse talked to her colleague about her son’s grades.

• Please explain what I need to know about my illness.

• I would ask nurses, if they have to do a chest X-ray, for example, that they let me wear pants.

• Nurses should understand that, like them, we also have bad days, and that in that situation everything is magnified.

• Nurses should avoid pulling faces.