The death of elderly people living in retirement homes – perceptions of nursing caregivers

Abstract

The elderly population has grown significantly in the last decades. This fact has been observed in a retirement home in Itajaí, in the State of Santa Catarina, prompting a desire to investigate the perceptions of nursing caregivers concerning death among the elderly. This is an exploratory study, which takes a qualitative approach. Data was collected during the first semester of 2003, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis was based on the units recorded, grouped into subcategories, which formed the categories used in this study. The results show that the caregivers perception regarding knowledge of death, is limited, which affects the care offered in the final stages of life; on caregivers feelings about death, different feelings were identified, ranging from relief through guilt and impotence; in the category perceiving death from different points of view, some caregivers see it from a natural or religious perspective, while others see it as a mystery or fate. The research observes that there is need for caregivers, as individuals, to understand the process of death and dying in order to make it less frightening and negative.