Objective:

to learn about the perception which the multi-professional team of a neonatal intensive care unit have of the process of dying and death of neonates.

Method:

this is a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study, undertaken with three focus groups made up of 35 professionals from the multi-professional team of the neonatal and pediatric intensive care unit of a hospital located in the northwest region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. The data were decoded on the basis of content analysis.

Results:

the data yielded four thematic categories: Death: an interruption of the natural order; Death: dying is a complex process for which there are no answers; Death: awakening to a new state of life and Death: the coexistence of the tangible and the intangible.

Conclusion:

is the study concluded that death is still conceived of as a fragmented phenomenon and it is dissociated from the process of human life, although there is evidence that the professionals believe in the prospect of being able to speak about and reflect on the matter and expand their theoretical and practical understanding of death.

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