Coping strategies of nurses in the care of patients with head and neck neoplasms^*

Estrategias de enfrentamiento de enfermeros en el cuidado a los pacientes con neoplasias de cabeza y cuello

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

To understand and describe the experience of the development of coping strategies during the professional life of nurses providing care to patients with facial image alteration.

METHOD

Descriptive qualitative study with a hermeneutic-dialectic framework conducted in the head and neck ward of a reference hospital in Rio de Janeiro, with the participation of eight nurses and data produced through semi-structured interviews conducted between June and August 2013.

RESULTS

Three major impressions were found: initial estrangement and complexity, consisting in the care given to patients with facial image alteration; a threshold between estrangement and coping, corresponding to the emergence of coping strategies during care; and image-likeness as a (re)cognition of the individual with facial image alteration in the development and consolidation of coping strategies during care.

CONCLUSION

Among other contributions, the identification and understanding of coping strategies may contribute to better qualify nursing education and care.

Descriptors
Head and Neck Neoplasms; Adaptation, Psychological; Oncology Nursing; Qualitative Research