Dados do Trabalho

Título

PALLIATIVE SEDATION IN TERMINAL ONCOLOGY PATIENTS - EXPERIENCES OF A NURSING TEAM - A QUALITATIVE CLINICAL STUDY

Introdução

What primitive imaginations would occur in a practitioner's emotional sphere during extreme therapeutic procedures? Application of Palliative Sedation (PS) in terminal patients has been increasing for diseases that receive end-of-life care. This application mobilizes psychologically nursing professionals. Oncologic patients are significative population which receive exclusively such care. PS is indicated in cancer progression and failure of other measures, aiming quality of end-of-life. Although applied on a scientific basis, the PS act provokes conscious and unconscious reactions, given the peculiarities of each clinical case and according to the professional's life history.

Objetivo

To interpret the meanings of emotional experiences reported by nursing team facing the act of PS for terminal cancer patients, working at a specialized hospital.

Método

Turato's Clinical-Qualitative design, using SDIOQD Semidirected Interviews with Open-ended Questions In-Depth. The interviewer is nurse and first author of this research. Intentional sample with 11 participants was studied, closed by the Glaser & Strauss' criteria of Information Saturation. Data processing by Faria-Schützer and collaborators' Seven Steps of the CQCA Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis. Theoretical framework employed was Health Psychology, highlighting the symbolic as a structuring element of subjectivity.

Resultado

The reports showed the PS application is felt and experienced under different ways, according to both deep mental representations on death event and the particular meanings of inducing sedation in patients who are already terminal. CQCA allowed emergence of several meaning cores. We elected three topics for this presentation: 1) Death carries ambivalent values even for professionals who deal with it daily; 2) Late sedation is accompanied by strong anguish for nurses; 3) There is certain self-comfort mechanism for nurses when patient and family convey a feeling on a death seen with naturalness

Conclusão

(a) The reports suggest the interviewees have experienced the PS as something that contributes to a dignified death, although they have perception of underlying ambivalent feelings; (b) A team not only technically trained, but emotionally prepared, conveys comfort to PS practice; (c) Educators for the health professionals at the University must know how to give space for apprentices to talk openly about their insecurities and fears in the clinical approach of the PS.

Palavras-chave

palliative sedation care nursing, emotional experiences in care, clinical-qualitative research.

Área

Oncologia - Cuidados Paliativos, Suporte e Terminalidade