Processo de morte e morrer: análise das complicações para a atuação da enfermagem

Abstract

The nursing professional is one of the least professionals who provides assistance to the human-being throughout lifetime, even when there is the possibility of death. In this sense, they seem to be little skilled to face the death and to deal with their own feelings, mainly, when taking care includes helping the patients die with dignity, because both the patient and his family seek in this professional support and assistance. This is the professional whose work objective is to take care of the human-being aiming to promote life and to cultivate health. This monograph has as guiding questions: how has the nursing staff been dealing with loss? How are they dealing with the family members of patients who die? This monograph had the objective of analyzing the implications of death and the process of dying to the nurse staff. In order to do so, a qualitative research has been carried out with the nursing professionals who work in a medical clinic, gynecology and mastology and emergency room of a large hospital which stands out for its assistance in high-complexity cases, seeking to raise and analyze the experiences that these professionals had with death in the hospital environment. The results demonstrate difficulties in establishing new bonds with family members and patients in process of death; difficulties in helping families get used to losses attributed to the own hospital environment; lack of skills from the staff and small number of employees. There is little training and there is no support to the professionals from the institution. It can be conclude that difficulties in nursing care are related to hospital infra-structure, small staff group, and emotional issues to deal with the process of death. It provides evidence of the need of dealing with this matter in a wide way starting in under graduation of health professionals, giving them tools to deal with life and death; offering psychosocial attention to professionals who deal with the death process daily, either through specialized individual attention or through lectures and workshops which emphasize the procedures with patients who have no therapeutic possibilities.