DEATH AND DYING IN THE PROCESS OF NURSING EDUCATION

The objective of this study is to unveil the meanings of death and dying experienced by 10 teachers and 22 students of the Nursing Course of the State University of Rio Grande do Norte. This is a descriptive, exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Four thematic areas of this study emerged, being: Sensations and Feelings when experiencing the process of Death and Dying; The experiences of nursing teaching practices before death and dying; Faith and literature as support found to deal with situations of death and dying; and Nursing training and preparation for experiencing death and dying. Results showed that the students and teachers of nursing feel unprepared to experience the processes of death and to die in the daily life of their teaching and learning practices, evidencing the little preparation that they obtained during their academic formation to face such situations as professionals of the Health area.