OBJECTIVE: to comprehend the meaning of taking care of children who have an advanced cancer that no longer responds to curative treatments for nursing staff. METHODS: heideggerian phenomenological research. Field step developed from December/2010 to March/2011 with 15 nursing professionals at University Hospital of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. RESULTS: Nursing professional expresses that, in daily care to children who have cancer, they have to separate professional from emotional. They describe their daily routine inside and outside the hospital. With time, they learn how to separate work from personal life. CONCLUSIONS: It points out the need of developing strategies of multi-professional actions among the team that takes care of, considering that it also needs to be taken care of.
Oncologic Nursing; Child; Neoplasm; Palliative Care