ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most general features of the interplay between the organization of work and the temporality of dying. In short, both the illness careers and the hospital careers of all parties in the dying situation may be of considerable importance, affecting both the interaction around the dying patient and the organization of his terminal care. The dying trajectory of each patient has at least two outstanding properties. First, it takes place over time: it has duration. Specific trajectories can vary greatly in duration. Second, a trajectory has shape: it can be graphed. In combination, certainty and time yield four types of "death expectations": certain death at a known time, certain death at an unknown time, uncertain death but a known time when certainty will be established, and uncertain death and an unknown time. The chapter shows that death expectations are a key determinant in how everyone acts during the dying process.
