The purpose of this qualitative study, based on the Theory of Social Representations, was to identify and analyze what kind of representations and feelings are experienced and what kind of defense mechanisms are developed by nursing workers who deal with patients'dying process. The data were collected starting from semi-structured interviews held with four technicians and twelve nursing auxiliaries who work in Intensive Care Units, and were analyzed by the contents analysis technique, more precisely, the thematic analysis. Results showed that nursing workers suffer terribly when they take care of patients who are about to die. To deal with daily suffering, they use either individual or collective strategies and defense mechanisms, such as denial, new routines, isolation.
Death; Intensive care; Nurse-patient relations