Palliative care in neonatology from nurses’ perspective

Abstract

Objective to grasp nurses’ perceptions and experiences about palliative care in neonatology. Method qualitative research, with palliative care as its conceptual basis, carried out with nurses working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units of three hospitals located in a municipality in the northern region of Paraná. Data were collected from November 2019 to January 2020, analyzed using the Discourse of the Collective Subject methodological framework. Results twenty nurses participated, most of them with less than 5 years of experience. Three topics reflect nurses’ perceptions and experiences: 1) Palliative care: from training to professional experience; 2) Meaning palliative care in neonatology; 3) Eligibility for neonatal palliative care. Conclusion and implications for practice nurses report gaps in their training for assisting newborns in palliative care; however, many presented an understanding of the meaning of palliative care with a focus on quality of life of babies affected by an incurable situation or illness, including the family. These aspects point to the need for training and health education focused on this topic as well as the implementation of palliative care in the neonatology service.