ATTITUDES OF SPECIALIST NURSES TOWARDS DEATH: PARTICULARITIES OF SPECIALIST NURSES IN REHABILITATION NURSING

Objective: to analyse the differences in the profile of attitudes towards death between specialist nurses in rehabilitation nursing and specialist nurses in other areas. Method: comparative, quantitative, cross-sectional study, with the participation of 223 specialist nurses from a hospital in northern Portugal. A questionnaire was applied as a data collection instrument. For data analysis, descriptive and analytical statistics were used. Results: as for attitudes towards death, in nurses who specialize in rehabilitation, those of approach, neutrality, fear, avoidance and escape predominated. In nurses with expertise in other areas, attitudes of approach, fear, neutrality, avoidance and escape prevailed. Conclusion: although the positive attitudes towards death, of nurses specializing in rehabilitation, acquired a higher percentage value, the difference was not significant. In addition, negative attitudes signal the need to rethink training strategies in the academic, but also in the professional context.