The health professionals and death in a hospital context: work and human finiteness

Abstract

This article presents some considerations about death and dying as constitutive elements of human existence and professional practice of healthcare workers in a hospital context. It is based on the Heideggerian conception of death, in which man, recognizing death as something irremissible and unsurpassable, can open himself to its authenticity, breaking through the mode of existential alienation that is typical of contemporary society. Both in the hospital environment and in society in general, death, which is often denied, evokes diverse feelings and forms of behavior. The affections death brings about are diverse, as are the revealed ways of dealing with its real and concrete existence. In their professional practice, the healthcare worker develops actions that reveal different ways of coping with and dealing with death, which favors the acquisition of meaningful learning, and also demands an educational and pedagogical space that assists healthcare professional in dealing with death and dying in a hospital context.