[The life meaning of the parents of the critical patient].
This study emerged from the reflection of my nursing professional experiences. The objectives were to understand the life meaning of critical patients' relatives, in view of the Tragic Triad: guilt, suffering, and death; to identify the contents of these individuals' life meanings, based on Existential Analysis. The methodological trajectory implied the qualitative approach and content analysis. The understanding of the meanings was guided by the Triadic Configuration, from which the following categories emerged: existential emptiness, suffering, guilt, death, meaning of life and ICU care. For the critical patients' relatives, finding the mean-ing of life in view of the Tragic Triad means perceiving the tragic optimism, such as the possibility of answering life questions in a positive and responsible way, by means of spiritual forces, as of their inner God, though the purpose of creating or performing something, or through the love dedicated to their sick loved one.
Enfermeira da Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Polivalente do Hospital Distrital do Funchal Cruz de Carvalho, Salvador, BA, Brasil. abraitt@gmail.com
Adriana Braitt
AB
Lima
Darci de Oliveira Santa
Dde O
Rosa
D016638:Critical Illness; D005192:Family Health; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans
O sentido de vida do familiar do paciente crítico.