The perception of oncology ICU professionals regarding the practice of palliative extubation

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative extubation is an ethically and legally supported practice; however, there are still difficulties in understanding the concept, erroneously relating palliative extubation to euthanasia.Objective: To analyze the perception of oncology ICU professionals of a private hospital in São Paulo regarding palliative extubation procedure and the interfaces in the care provided by the team.Methods: This is a descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative approach, in which a semi-structured interview was used; and as a data processing technique, the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD), which analyses empirical data of a verbal nature, in order to configure a collective subject with a social discourse.Results: The analysis of the interviews culminated in 13 categories of discourse, which described the practice of palliative extubation in the oncology ICU, the insertion of palliative care, the difficulties that permeate the multi-professional team, and the approach to the family.Conclusion: The conceptual description of palliative extubation is well known by the team, as they know how to distinguish palliative extubation from euthanasia. However, there are difficulties in practical performance, which can have a direct impact on patient care, communication with the family and the safety and well-being of the professional involved.