*3.1. Design*

Exploring the ritual dimension of care practices in a hospice facility, we applied a qualitative descriptive approach. Because ritualization is a natural part of human actions and interaction, including care practice, healthcare professionals are often not aware of it. To explore this tacit

aspect of care practice, participant observation was chosen as one of the methods for data collection (see also Borgstrom 2018). In addition, in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to further clarify observations.
