Understanding of Brazilian Nursing Assistants and Technicians of Brain Death

Brain death (BD) is defined as the total and irreversible cessation of brain functions including the brain stem. The team that assists the patient in this situation is made up of higher-level and technical health professionals. Our objective was to analyze the understanding of nursing assistants and technicians of BD. Descriptive and exploratory research with a qualitative approach was carried out with nursing assistants and technicians who were members of the Regional Nursing Council of São Paulo, Brazil. After collection, the data were submitted to the thematic-category content analysis technique. From the analysis, the following categories emerged: an understanding of BD; religiosity and hope in the reversal of BD; and “brain death associated with the possibility of organ donation.” This study reinforces the need to train professionals at a technical nursing level on the subject in order to improve nursing care and avoid mistaken beliefs that can negatively influence the process of donating organs and tissues for transplantation.