OBJECTIVE:

To describe perceptions, feelings, and attitudes towards death for Intensive Care Units (ICU) professionals, as well as to analyze demographic and sociocultural factors associated with these outcomes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This cross-sectional study included 45 nurses and 52 physicians from four ICUs (general, cardiac, pediatric, and neonatal) at a university hospital in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Associations were estimated in multiple multinomial logistic regression analyses (α = 5%).

RESULTS:

The death of ICU patients especially meant failure/guilt for doctors and pain for nurses, while they understood the death of terminally ill patients as rest/relief for the ill people. Attitudes of sharing bad news, not resuscitating terminally ill patients, and discussing this conduct were predominantly reported. The perceptions/feelings on the death of ICU patients were associated with the professional category, age of the first personal experience with death, and ICU specialty. The labor attitudes toward the death of ICU patients were associated with the graduation time, professional category, number of ICUs where work, death discussion during professional working life, age of the first personal experience with death, and religion.

CONCLUSION:

The death of ICU patients is linked with pain, guilt, and failure. The perceptions, feelings, and attitudes of ICU health professionals facing death are affected by sociocultural aspects, previous experience, and occupational training. Their attitudes express a therapeutic obstinacy.