Nursing students' perceptions of palliative care

Objective: to understand the perceptions of nursing students at a public university about palliative care. Methods: qualitative research, carried out with 66 nursing students, from the sixth to the ninth period in progress. A script was used with questions about perceptions, experiences during the course and whether or not there was an approach to the contents of the undergraduate course in palliative care. Data compiled by content analysis. Results: two thematic categories emerged: fear and frustration, divisors in the search for dignity in terminality and incipience in academic training and a reductionist view of palliative care. Conclusion: there was a need to obtain knowledge aimed at comprehensive care for human beings, in the most humanistic perspective, which respects the needs of individuals, especially when related to palliative care.