A vida em seu limite: profissionais do SAMU frente à iminência de morte de pacientes

Abstract

The Mobile Emergency Care Service was created based on the National Emergency Care Policy (SAMU), with the purpose of helping the population in urgent situations. It is a challenging work context in which life and death situations call for quick decisions and interventions by professionals. In this scenario, the contact with pain, suffering, fear and death can create stress, which is configured as a risk factor for symptoms of anxiety and depression. Face to these findings, the objective of the present study was to understand how SAMU professionals experience a daily work that involves the imminence of death of patients, also seeking to verify the coping strategies used, and correlate them with stress, anxiety. and depression. This is a miscellaneous research, divided into two studies: quantitative and clinical-qualitative. The quantitative study was conducted with 43 service professionals, covering all categories (doctors, nurses, nursing technicians and drivers), through the application of two instruments, the DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale). and the Coping Strategies Inventory. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The clinical-qualitative study was conducted from semi-directed interviews with 13 doctors and nurses, which were analyzed from thematic content analysis. The quantitative results indicate that the strategies most used by service professionals are problem solving, self-control and positive reevaluation, while the least used are avoidance and confrontation. The sample presented low rates of stress, anxiety and depression. These data can be better understood through the correlation of the instruments, which allowed us to identify that the least used strategies are those that have the highest correlation with stress, anxiety and depression. The qualitative results contribute to a deeper understanding of the way these professionals deal with the situations experienced in the service. Through the categories “The adrenaline addiction: "cachaça braba”, “Relationship with the patient: the time of the transfer” and “Relationship with the team: perfect synchrony”, which is composed by the subcategory called “Feedback: space for exchanges” it is clear that the strategies used involve satisfaction with the work performed, the brief relationship with the patient, inherent to the service, and the relationship with the team, which acts in a multidisciplinary way, through the integration of knowledge. It is considered the importance of valuing spaces through which professionals can share their experiences, allowing their elaboration and the strengthening of professional and personal bonds between the team.