Villas Boas de Carvalho

This study is the result of my concern, as a nurse, for women with cancer who are currently beyond the possibility of being cured. As such, the trajectory of this study focussed on understanding the meaning of care from the perspective of these women. With this in mind, I chose to carry out qualitative research, using the phenomenological approach, based on these guiding questions: - Tell me how I can look after you. How would you like to be looked after? From the women’s descriptions emerged ontological unifications that were analysed and interpreted according to Martin Heidegger’s framework. These unifications made it possible to unveil paths for the action of caring in the dying process that go beyond technical-scientific knowledge, since caring also implies empathy, listening, patience, zeal, pain control and autonomy. Supported by the women’s point of view, I was able to grasp the meaning of being with cancer in the process of dying, not as something finished, but as a being of possibilities, even in the face of a factual situation that is living with existential terminality.