Nursing evidence-based inteprofissional practice guidelines on palliative care and ICU-related death anxiety - Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Abstract: Progressive growth of chronic degenerative disease patients is observed in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Some of these patients may face the loss of life, in the face of the exhaustion of the possibilities of healing. Palliative care emerges as an assertive alternative because it supports family members who help patients cope with feelings of anxiety related death. Objective: Reviewing evidence-based interprofessional guidelines that will assist intensive care nurses in the identification of nursing care related to palliative care as an approach to ICU death related anxiety. Methodology: Integrative review, in the VHL portal and the SCielo database, between 2011 and 2017, using the terminology in health: intensive care, palliative care and and death. At the end, a sample of 12 articles was obtained. Results: The increase of chronic degenerative diseases of slow evolution favors death in ICU. The process of caring for a patient without possibilities of cure is permeated by negative, conflicting feelings. Conclusion: It allowed us to reflect on palliative care as a therapeutic resource that provides the relief of suffering and enables the humanization of dying. It confirms the need to discuss palliative care in order to train professionals capable of dealing with the demands of death and mourning.