Resumo

FERREIRA, Julia Messina Gonzaga; NASCIMENTO, Juliana Luporini  e  SA, Flávio César de. Health professionals: a view on death and dysthanasia. Rev. Bras. Educ. Med. [online]. 2018, vol.42, n.3, pp.87-96. ISSN 1981-5271.  https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-52712015v42n3RB20170134.

Death is a subject that frequently presents itself to the health professional when facing the certainty of their patients’ death. Caring for the terminally ill patient is a matter of great relevance, since quality care and it’s techniques make it possible to prolong many lives. Therefore, we seek to evaluate if any previous preparation for the caregiver exists, from a technical and emotional point of view, in order to avoid dysthanasia. Our study seeks to analyze the professionals’ perception of this death process and also their preparation to promote end-of-life care. For that, we interviewed health professionals who took care of patients in severe or terminal conditions. The participants were selected among all employees of a university hospital in the city of Campinas – SP (Brazil), seeking to include different professional categories from the institution. This qualitative study was based on semi-structured interviews, in order to better approach each professional’s perception when facing the verge of the patient’s death or even their survival with severe complications or limitations. The content of each answer was analyzed with content analysis and the sample was limited by saturation. Professionals from different categories of the multiprofessional team were interviewed, and there were some commom topics among their speeches, We interviewed professionals from several categories of the multiprofessional team, and observed some common issues in their speeches, systematized in three thematic axes based on the professionals’ perceptions: regarding the professional formation itself, the multiprofessional team dynamic and the contact with family members, signaling to the respective conclusions: (1) the discomfort of talking about death with the patient and with his/her relatives and the feeling of lacking preparation to address the issue (2) the little engagement within the multiprofessional team and (3) the difficulty of dealing with families that often do not accept the relative’s death process, , in addition to (4) the professional’s lack of knowledge of the concepts involved in palliative care such as “dysthanasia”, “orthanasia” and “euthanasia”.. After analysing the results, it is clear that there is an important need to discuss the subject of death throughout the professional’s education, in order to make terminality a subject that is more familiar and more comfortable, and to improve communication with patients and their relatives. In addition, it is necessary to guide the education of all different health professionals towards greater engagement within the multiprofessional team, while mantaining horizontal relationships, in order to allow discussing each patient’s case among all professionals involved in their care, and thus improve it’s quality.

Palavras-chave : terminality; palliative care; multiprofessional team; bioethics; ethics.

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