Quando la morte rompe i tabù : l'approccio professionale degli operatori hospice ai malati terminali

Death is an increasingly discussed theme in the public sphere, but in the meanwhile very problematic at personal level. This explorative research focuses on how hospices health workers (physicians, nurses and care operators) reconstruct the meaning of their approach to death. During their daily routine, all professionals are able to maintain an attitude of "detached concern". However, when certain contingencies occur, their common definition of the work situation breaks down. All the different types of health workers show deep emotional and existential dilemmas, which require constant training and psychological supervision. From this point of view death becomes not only a limit, but also a resource that allows these workers to reconnect their personal experience with the wider professional debate about care of dying people. [Publisher's text].