The meaning of caring for newborn infants without a possibility of curative therapy

Abstract

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a place that provokes different emotions for people who work there, being a place where assistance is provided to critically ill neonates and often without the possibility of curative treatment, requiring only palliative care. This study aimed to reveal the meaning of caring for newborns without the possibility of curative therapy for the nursing team, analyze the experience of the NICU regarding the process of death and dying and their feelings about this process. With a descriptive qualitative approach, interviews were carried out with nine nurses at the ICU of a hospital and public maternity of Teresina-PI. It was found out that death is a frequent event, considered complex by those who are directly involved in the care of the newborn. Nevertheless, it is understood that it is more difficult for nurses to deal with the experience of neonatal death, which requires further psychosocial support.