Abstract
Palliative care seeks quality of life based primarily on prevention and relief of suffering of patients who have life threatening diseases, encompassing physical, psychosocial and spiritual areas. Furthermore, extending the post-mortem patient, it offers support to the family in the grieving process. This qualitative study aimed to understand and analyze the training of professionals in relation to dying patients and their perceptions regarding their contribution to the prevention of complicated grief in the care unit. The Attachment Theory grounded this research theoretically. Volunteer professionals of the palliative care teams participated in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain academic and professional data, besides their courses taken, and a semi-structured interview. The analysis of the collected data was done through transcription and categorization, followed by the content analysis. The results confirmed that the training of professionals in relation to the dying process is scarce. Moreover, it was observed that health professionals working in palliative care have attachment behaviors, identified as natural in this context, and that that ends up making it harder to realize that is an important contribution to prevent grief from becoming complicated in the care unit. The results of this research brought out the relevance of the need of inserting themes such as death and dying in the education of the professionals of this field, which can contribute to a better assistance in the care unit in the grieving process.
Palliative Care; Care Unit; Complicated Grief; Health Care Professionals