Death as a Companion: Experiences of Health Professionals with Bereavement

In today’s society, health professionals are often involved in the process of death and mourning in its different forms and meanings, all of which require an in-depth analysis. In response to this demand, the objective was to understand the experiences of health professionals in the death and mourning process, identifying the cognitive and emotional aspects and the coping strategies used. Qualitative research was carried out with 15 health professionals who responded to a sociodemographic questionnaire and a trigger question. The data were analyzed using textual analysis, with the aid of the IRaMuTeQ software, complemented by manual content analysis. The results were organized into five classes: (1) “Memories of yesterday and today,” addressing the personal experiences of the participants; (2) “Time of decision, farewell and departure in the process of death and dying,” reflections on dignity in the natural outcome of life; (3) “The perspectives and meanings about death,” portraying the importance of dialogue on this topic; (4) “Suffering, dysthanasia and humanized death,” recovering the difficulties experienced by professionals in this process; (5) “Unannounced and announced death and palliative care in daily professional life,” describes the importance of palliative care; and (6) “Loss, grief and coping strategies,” presents the outcomes after death. It is concluded that silence, the difficulty in sharing experiences of death, and the lack of training on the subject, among other factors, can cause suffering in health professionals.