PERCEPCIÓN DE LOS PACIENTES CON ENFERMEDAD RENAL CRÓNICA Y TERMINAL, SOBRE LOS CUIDADOS PALIATIVOS

Introduction. Multiple incurable diseases affect the world population, which entails the need to face complex situations, as consequence of pathology and it ́s treatments, palliative care being an alternative care to improve the quality of life of the patients with chronic and terminal renal failure. Objective. To describe the perception of chronic and terminal patient about palliative nursing care. Material and methods. Qualitative, phenomenological study carried out on patients with chronic and terminal illnesses. During the individualized interviews, a trigger question was started, recorded once the verbal consent of the patients had been obtained. We continued with the transcription of the information and content analysis. Ethical research principles were considered. Results. Twenty patients from a hemodialysis unit were interviewed. 55% were men, the longest time the disease evolved was 25 years. Four units of meaning emerged: (1) nursing care, which implied a feeling of security associated with the nurse ́s responsibility; (2) direct communication, manifested by difficulty in establishing communication with the nurse in spite of living together; (3) multidisciplinary team that showed a timely response to complications; and (4) environment, referring to feelings of anger at being cared for in dirty environments. Conclusion. Although it is necessary to address the issue of palliative care with different groups of terminally ill patients, it is appreciated that, although there is communication, multidisciplinary work, sick/nursing personnel cohabitation, it is necessary that the latter be trained and apply palliative care in a formal manner.