Cuidados de enfermagem para pessoa fora de possibilidade terapêutica com lesão cutânea

Abstract

A nursing staff is responsible for providing direct care to patients, such as treating skin lesions. For that reason, they must develop the skills and abilities in recognizing and identifying the peculiarities related to such lesions, even when a patient is considered not qualified for therapy. This paper aims to identify the nursing care specific to the case of skin lesions on a terminally ill patient who does not qualify for therapy due to his/her terminal illness. Using specific search terms taken from Base de dados DescritoresemCiências da Saúde (DeCS) a database of descriptors in health science from the regional library of medicine, Biblioteca Regional de Medicina (BIREME), I was able to shed some light on the issue. The search for indexed studies covered the Lilacs, Bdenf, Ibecs, and Medline databases from the period of February to May of 2014. The criteria used for selecting the chosen studies was that they must be primary research using a quantitative approach, regardless of its delineation, and have been published in either Portuguese, Spanish, or English with no restrictions on the year of publication. Among the identified types of nursing care, I have found seven total strategies that provide either emotional or physical comfort for the patient, two of which are with respect to the emotional aspect, and the others with the physical. Relating to the wound, two prevention methods were found, as well as five techniques to control odor and three to alleviate pain. Nursing care specific to a care taker was not found. Caring for a terminally ill patient can be rather challenging to the nurse, in the sense that the nurse must utilize his/her abilities to evaluate the patient, communicate and make decisions all together. Moreover, as much as these nursing cares may point to a new path in care giving, they are not backed by experiments that supply clinical evidence. Therefore, there is a need to conduct research/experiments from which there will be data to provide fundament to the practices of nursing.