The work of the resident health professional in contact with death and dying

Authors

  • Maria Juliana Vieira Lima Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin
  • Noeme Moreira de Andrade Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-12902017163041

Keywords:

Professional Health, Death, Care

Abstract

Due to a social and historical process, death has become a taboo and has been treated under constraint, distant from the everyday life. Thus, the training of health professionals on this subject is insufficient at the undergraduate level and it lingers in graduate programs of medical residency, interfering in the care with patients in the process of death and dying. This research’s objective is to understand the perception of graduating medics in contact with death and dying cases and to investigate both the training that they received on this subject and the experience they have while dealing with these situations. It was applied a method of qualitative research based on phenomenological hermeneutics, and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 medical residents of a children’s hospital linked to the Ceará State Health Department. The results pointed out the lack of training of the professionals on this matter - they felt unprepared and impotent deal with death and dying, and with the importance of interdisciplinarity in dealing with patients in this context. Furthermore, it was clear the residency programs try to minimize the complications of the lack of training; the need of care spaces for professionals; and that ethical dimension of care is more important than the technical relations between doctors and dying patients.

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Published

2017-12-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

The work of the resident health professional in contact with death and dying. (2017). Saúde E Sociedade, 26(4), 958-972. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-12902017163041