Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

The theme of the humanisation of care, understood as attention to the person as a whole, made of organic, psychological and relational needs, is a highly topical now more than ever. A terminal illness, in particular, is a critical experience, for both the patient and his family, during which a relational triangle is created with the medical and nursing team, the assisted person and family at its vertices. The psychological and relational aspects of care are becoming increasingly more important, i.e. the central role of a human and personalised support in the therapeutic process is now emerging. It is an ethical issue to humanise: it’s related to values, to a search both for the good of the person you meet and for themselves in the relationship. In light of this, nurses, in general, and those who work in the field of palliative care, in particular, must be prepared to properly manage the "emotions" expressed by those who are sick; they need to pay more attention to the interpersonal relationship, which is also made of a moral support based on solidarity and subsidiarity with the people in their care that are often placed in environments where the risk of falling victim to alienation and marginalisation is extremely high. A nurse must develop awareness to the importance of the provision of a human caring in the process of accompaniment through the terminal phase of life of the patient and must focus his attention on the culture, the spiritual desire, the management of pain and the family situation of the patient. A nurse has to create a relationship of trust, based on a careful and active listening, an attempt at overcoming their own cultural code by redefining it with the assisted person in a place that goes beyond, that reaches the essence of the dignity of every human being.