Experiences of nurses confronting their own imminent death

: This study had the objective of getting to know the feeling of nurses faced to their own imminent death, and identifying changes in their lives afterwards. The approach was qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory. Five nurses took part in the study that was conducted in the southern part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from August to September 2006. A semistructured questionnaire was used for the interviews. Three subjects were identified, between life and death: nursing experiences; changes in the living and dying process; changes in care provision. The results show that nurses could remember in detail what they experienced physiologically. After that experience they started to value more the presence of the family at the patient's bedside during the hospitalization period. It was observed that nurses changed their vision of living and dying, as well as the way they care for patients.