Illness and death: how we cope with the end of life of a family member as health professionals

Abstract

As healthcare professionals, we face the daily challenge of providing quality care to our patients with different pathologies at different stages, often even at the end of life. However, what happens when one of our family members is the one who is going through the end of life? Are we able to get involved as primary caregivers? If we do, how does it affect us emotionally? Has our profession given us the necessary tools to handle such a situation? We ask these questions based on the premise that, although we are dedicated to caring for others, we are only sometimes prepared to do so with people we are united by love or affection. About the subject of study of this work, we highlight the personal experiences of this team and colleagues, who could/we were able to contribute different life experiences in the personal sphere without leaving aside our professionalism when making decisions, finding a bibliography that relates in a scientific and empirical professional way that serves us as a theoretical framework, but that does not propose its application in the specificity that we propose, that is, our professional being related to the personal experience lived. As a common denominator, most of the colleagues consulted, and ourselves believe that experience in the practical field helps us to provide comfort and security to both the patient and the family environment, not only in the end-of-life process but also in the context of some pathology in the acute phase.