IMPACTOS NA SAÚDE MENTAL DA EQUIPE DE ENFERMAGEM DIANTE DOS CASOS DE MORTE: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA

Death is part of the natural cycle of life, but it is still a topic that causes discomfort when discussed, despite being the only certainty that one has. Dealing with this stage of life is not easy for a large part of the population, even for those who are in contact with it on a daily basis, such as health professionals. Nursing professionals, especially those who work in hospital settings, are faced with the process of dying and death on a daily basis, but during and after their training, training is external to the deepening of the care process with the aim of curing illnesses and training in techniques to prevent the death of their patient. The objective of this study was to analyze the published knowledge on the impacts on the mental health of nursing professionals when faced with the death of a patient under their care. This was an integrative literature review in six stages: identification of the theme and research question; literature search; data extraction and categorization; critical analysis of the included studies; data interpretation; and presentation of the integrative review. Seven articles published between 2021 and 2025 were included in this review. All were in English, most of them had a quantitative methodology (five journals). Regarding the level of evidence, five publications presented level III and showing the high methodological content, there was one publication in 2021, which was a systematic review and meta-analysis. Among the main results: one study showed that nurses accepted the specificities of death as a natural process of human life; however, they adopt an attitude of fear of death; another evidenced between fear and coping with death and compassion fatigue. The possibility of psychosocial traumas was perceived, which in turn positively influenced the occurrences of good perception of death. A relationship was also found between moral distress and a negative attitude towards death in the form of associated levels. An estimated meta-analytic prevalence of 31% was found for high emotional exhaustion, 18% for high depersonalization, and 46% for low personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion had a significant relationship with depression and personality factors. It is concluded that there are few studies that portray the impacts on the mental health of nursing professionals when faced with the death of a patient under their care. In these publications, depression was mentioned and, in addition to other factors, Burnout Syndrome may appear as a consequence of this situation.