Abstract

GOMEZ RAMIREZ, Olga Janeth; CARRILLO GONZALEZ, Gloria Mabel  and  ARIAS, Edier Mauricio. NURSING THEORIES FOR RESEARCH AND HEALTH CARE PRACTICE IN PALLIATIVE CARE. rev.latinoam.bioet. [online]. 2017, vol.17, n.1, pp.60-79. ISSN 1657-4702.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rlbi.1764.

This article describes and analyzes nursing theories used to guide research and practice in palliative healthcare, through retrospective documentary research conducted with a 15-year observation window (1990-2015), and taking into account established criteria for descriptors, nursing theories and palliative care, guiding research and practice in palliative care. Some related articles and book chapters were included as documentation support, and what Fawcett proposed guided the analysis and comparison of the theories. We explored four mid-level nursing theories that can guide research and practice in palliative healthcare: comfort, quiet end of life, self-transcendence and uncertainty. The analysis of the selected references evidenced the predominance of descriptive studies that have addressed the central phenomena of each theory in patients and family caregivers. To a lesser extent, we identified studies with a greater explanatory scope on variables and particular aspects of palliative care, few of which report the impact of interventions generated based on these theoretical references on patients or their families. It could be found that there are nursing theories related to palliative care that require greater exploration and use in the local context so that they can guide research in the area and the development of interventions that qualify the practice with evidence of impact on users and their families.

Keywords : palliative care; nursing theory; literature of review as an issue.

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