Therapeutic obstinacy is not a sufficiently studied theme in Brazil, especially on the nursing field. This study aimed to understand the social representations of doctors and nurses, about the excessive investment regarding the terminal patient in an Adult Intensive Care Unit. It is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research, founded on Social Representations Theory. Data was collected through focused interviews and participant observation and was interpreted through content analysis. The selection of five nurses and eight doctors to give interviews was carried out for convenience, considering their working shifts. It is possible to conclude that such professionals build their social representations about therapeutic obstinacy, having as a starting point the obstinate requests of the terminal patient's family members to carry out futile measures; difficulties regarding decision making and absence of criteria concerning the limits of investment, as well as the fear of ethical and legal repercussions related to the decisions made.
Medical Futility; Death; Nursing; Medicine; Intensive Care Unit