Feelings of students in a master's in nursing program facing the death of patients in a critical situation

Abstract

Death is part of nurses' daily lives, especially when they deal with patients in critical situations. The way they perceive death may be relevant for providing humanized care. Objective: to identify the feelings of students of a master's program towards death and its influence on care provided to critical patients. Method: This is a study with a qualitative approach, approved by the ethics committee of the University (Doc11/CE/2018 of 09/04/2018). Interviews were carried out with 11 students, processed by content analysis. Results: the main feelings associated with the death of patients were: impotence, frustration/revolt, sadness/anguish, acceptance, relief, and distancing. Conclusion: students create emotional barriers to manage the suffering of the patients they deal with, and it is important that these do not compromise the quality of care. Students' feelings towards death positively influence critical patient care, as their experiences and life experience allow them to provide care more calmly.

Keywords

• sentiment analysis
• death
• nurses
• critical care