Patient Death and Dying

This book reflects on patient death and its repercussions for the nursing team and its implications for the field of care. The first chapter provides an introduction to the authors’ implications for the subject, paralleling the changes in the social construction of death and the care offered by professionals in hospitals. In the second chapter, we look at how feelings of bereavement influence the behaviour of the patient and the professionals involved, their characteristics and phases, including interaction with the family, the training process and the need to create a professional support network. The third chapter looks at the feelings developed by nursing professionals when a patient dies and how these issues should be reflected on. The fourth chapter raises some attitudinal actions that can support the team in dealing with the feelings experienced. In the fifth chapter, we briefly compare the references and ideas presented. We hope that this book will reach health professionals, nursing academics, nurses, scholars and other readers who are interested in the subject.