Experiências de fim de vida relatadas por profissionais de saúde em contextos de terminalidade: estudo transversal em hospital universitário

Abstract

End-of-life experiences (ELEs) correspond to phenomena reported during the dying process, such as visions, dreams, a sense of presence, terminal lucidity, and experiences with spiritual or emotional meaning, which remain underexplored in health professional education. This study aimed to compare the frequency, types, and perceptions related to ELEs between nursing professionals and physicians and other health professionals working at a university hospital in the countryside of Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as to analyze openness to dialogue and professional training on the topic. This was an observational, cross-sectional, exploratory, and descriptive study with a quantitative approach, conducted with 113 professionals from the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia who worked in the Adult and Coronary Intensive Care Units, Oncology, Internal Medicine, and Home Care Service. Data were collected between July 2025 and March 2026 using instruments containing sociodemographic and professional information and questions related to end-of-life experiences. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, with descriptive statistics and between-group comparison tests, adopting a significance level of 5%. Overall, 51.8% of the participants reported at least one ELE, with a higher frequency among nursing professionals (55.7%) than among physicians and other health professionals (42.4%). The most frequently reported experiences were the desire for reconciliation with family members, visions of deceased relatives or religious figures, visions associated with emotional comfort, and terminal lucidity. Nursing professionals had longer experience caring for patients in end-of-life situations and were more frequently present at the time of death. Most participants interpreted these experiences as spiritual, transpersonal, or transcendental phenomena or as part of a life-review process. Only 10.7% reported having received specific training on the topic, whereas 63.4% expressed interest in obtaining further information or training. It is concluded that ELEs are frequent in end-of-life care settings and should be more widely addressed in health professional education and continuing education programs to promote more humanized, sensitive, and comprehensive care for patients and their families at the end of life.