Throughout the course of an illness, a patient has denied it…

Throughout the course of an illness, a patient has denied its seriousness, even though health professionals have explained prognosis of death very clearly. Physiological signs now indicate that death will probably occur within a short period of time, but the patient is still firmly in a state of emotional denial. The patient says to the nurse, “Tell my wife to stop hovering and go home. I’m going to be fine.” How should the nurse respond?