title: [The perception by nurses of the significance of palliative care in patients with terminal cancer].
abstract: This study sought to assess the perception of nurses with respect to cancer patients under palliative care. It is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach conducted with nurses from a hospital attending cancer patients under palliative care located in the city of João Pessoa, State of Paraíba. The study included nine nurses who worked in the hospital. The empirical material was collected using the technique of semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the content analysis technique. The interpretative analysis of the interviews led to the definition of three categories: Improving the quality of life through the alleviation of pain and suffering; Palliative Care: a multi-professional study of terminal patients and their families in the grieving process; Communication: a source of dignity in the terminal care process. The conclusion reached is that the study revealed that the nurses involved acknowledge the importance of the multidisciplinary team. It enables the nurses to reflect on the use of communication as an essential element of care for patient and family under palliative care. It is hoped that the data obtained may foster further research on the topic.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Bioética, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Cidade Universitária - Campus I, Castelo Branco, 58.059-900 João Pessoa PB, Brazil. m.andreaf@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Maria Andréa
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Carla Braz
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Evangelista
authors.forename: Indiara Carvalho dos Santos
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Platel
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agra
authors.forename: Marineide de Souza
authors.initials: Mde S
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Francileide de Araújo
authors.initials: Fde A
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013727:Terminal Care