There is no clear limit between the personal and professional dimension, when the health worker cares for patients who have no prospect of cure. This shadowing of the personal dimension causes high emotional demands of the professional in the face of the experiences with the death.

In face of troubles which surround the nurse in the context of death, this article aimed to identify the learning and self-care practices experienced by nurses who work with patients in risk or in death process, in a haematology-oncology unit.

This is a clinical-qualitative study, conducted through individual interviews. The participants were 6 nurses from haematology-oncology unit of a university hospital, covering the sectors of chemotherapy clinic and children's unit.

The results highlight two phenomena built by the experiences of nurses: long learning experiences with the team work through the maturity arising over time or even with constant monitoring of the death situations; and self-care practices as self-preservation phenomenon through the development of pain by speaking and listening in groups, the motivation through professional achievement and the well-being caused by the charity care each other.

Work towards the personal development of nurses as professional who deals with ethical conflicts should be focused on promoting opening spaces for speaking and listening of these nurses. This allows them to create ways of dealing with situations of death, which are professionally responsible.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.