This reflection approaches aspects related to the ontic and ontological dimensions that constitute and, therefore, permeate nursing care delivered to the client with breast cancer submitted to mastectomy. This reflexive analysis was developed considering the author's professional experience as a clinical nurse at the Cancer Hospital III and at the National Cancer Institute (INCA) as well as using the theoretical frameworks studied during her master and doctoral courses. Through a comprehensive attitude and using phenomenological interpretation, this study aimed at reflecting about nurse's clinical actions in the routine of an institution, pointing out possibilities for a care based on the existential dimension of the involved persons. Therefore, the author emphasizes nurse's performance with the client that is not only translated in the application of scientific techniques, orientations and information but also considering the perception, understanding and care provided by a human being in his/her singularity.
breast cancer; nursing care; oncology nursing