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Masters Course in Pain Sciences – Personal Discovery

By etavares On 31 March, 2010 Research and Advanced Education | 2010 Comments Off on Masters Course in Pain Sciences – Personal Discovery No tags

“The Man and Death” 


The man was lying within the colourless night,
Falling asleep and a noise gave him fright.
Not a hard blow, but nevertheless,
Something in of ominous made him guess.
He got up and went to the door.
“Who’s there,” he asked.
“It’s me,” someone answered.
Who’s me?” “Well, then. I’m Death.”
A shape he knew well went through his mind:
A skeleton with a scythe that his mother had once shown him.
He didn’t open the door, but went back to bed,
And he covered up his shivering, shaking limbs in it.
But the door was softly, softly opened and there he saw
“A woman or an angel?”
A figure bathed in a soft inner light.
The light that has seen all in this life has forgiven all.
An ineffable gaze like that of who raised him at her breast.
A smile like that of his most beloved loved one.
“You are Death?” he asks.
And the angel replies: “I am Death!
I bring you rest from the life that humiliated you.”
“I imagined you to be ugly. I was terrified of you …
Are you really Death?” he insisted.
“Yes,” says the angel, “I am Death,
The mistress who is never wrong. Your best friend.”
And the angel came close and touched him on the forehead,
With infinite sweetness, his weak hands closed around her …
The ineffable tenderness of the one who raised him at her breast.

The Masters course in Pain Sciences, of which I was an assiduous student, and that of Palliative Care, which I am currently attending, arose from listening to and empathy for the suffering of oncology patients and the immense need to reduce it.

I worked as a nurse for seven years in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Voice and Communications Disorders at the Santa Maria Hospital of Lisbon. I thus came across patients who suffered from head and neck tumours. This pathology brings great alterations to the functions of the organs it affects, as well as to one’s self-image and self-esteem, as well as social, family and professional alterations.

Palliative Care is an integral and almost total part of the Department. Thus I felt the need to deepen and apply my knowledge in order to provide total support to the patient and to their families, and to reflect on the problems that existed, seeking to solve them. Investment in training is the only way to manage to combat and refute the personal and professional imperfections inherent to the team.

Working with oncological and terminal patients was a gift for me. I believe that nothing happens by chance in this life, and working with them made me grow, not only in Professional terms, but particularly in personal terms.

Living with death changes people, and it changed me. The feeling of immortality that has stood out all through our lives is buried in order to give way to lethalness. Death makes us meditate and listen to our fleeting life. It makes us ask questions about many fears: of pain, of losing our material things, of losing our dignity, of the unknown and of separation. It makes us think about our past life and, often, face up to our feeling of guilt about what has not yet been done during our lifetime.

The terminal patient, like all of us, is going to die, but is still alive, still breathing, feeling and hearing. It is up to health professionals to decide whether to let the patient die still in lifetime or to help them embrace their final moments.

As Morrie Schwartz stated: “Am I going to live or am I going to die?”. The patient’s body, even when weakened, is still a part of what we are. Comments like, “What do you want me to do? The patient is dying!” when one is looking for help to alleviate the patient’s discomfort are completely mortifying, obtuse and incomprehensible nowadays.

We are all the same when we look death in the face and death is our most faithful friend.

Life should be lived on a daily basis, we should learn from our mistakes and grant importance to that which is truly worthwhile: looking after other people, whether this is by doctors, nurses or other health professionals, we all train to look after other people.

I am not perfect, neither professionally nor personally, but I always try to learn from the mistakes I make. The specialisation courses in Pain Sciences and in Palliative Care are a way to learn more and smooth out my defects.

It was with great joy and will to learn that I studied, that I study and have discovered, over these years of work, the need to reflect on patients’ needs.

More than being a Masters centred on the discovery of pain and of palliation, the courses have allowed me to discover myself and the people I care for.

We health professionals should never give up, because when we try to be better than we are everything around us becomes better also.

Continuous training in the area of palliative care is the key to helping other people and to helping ourselves.

For the good fortune of the patients and for our science of care, I hope that we can face up to our own fears and never give up caring.

I intend to never stop learning and reflecting, and therefore helping to place myself in a clearer and more learned position as to this great mystery of human existence.

In the name of my personal discovery and of human dignity.

 

Ana Catarina Sanches Infante
(Nurse )
Service: Burns Unit of Santa Maria Hospital of Lisbon
infante.sanches@gmail.com

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Index - News # 12 | mar. 2010
 Advanced Training Institute Perspectives 2010
 Dr. Luís Pedro Gomes Costa Paulitos, New Administrator of the University of Lisbon
 Professor António Rendas, News President of the Council of Chancellors of Portuguese Universities
 Second Communication from the Rector of the University of Lisbon
 The new Cascais Hospital was inaugurated
 The Experience of an Athlete and Student – João Correia,Captain of the Portuguese Rugby Union
 The Expectations of Future Generations of Doctors, Interview to Sandra Duque Maurício
 Dom Manuel de Mello Award Research Grant to Ana Catarina Fonseca
 Pulido Valente Science Prize 2009 distinguishes Research in Oncology carried out at the IMM
 B-on Training, EndNote Web and RCAAP – “Information a Click Away”
 The Closing of International Year of Astronomy
 Publication of the book “Dermatologia. Ficheiro Clínico e Terapêutico”
 Book of the Month
 Advanced Training in Neurosciences – Personal Experience
 Masters Course in Pain Sciences – Personal Discovery
 The Rebirth of Haiti – The experience of Fernando Nobre
 The University of Madeira. The effects of the recent tragic events on the students’ lives
 Prospecting Science and Health
 Comments and Suggestions
 Day of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon 30th of April 2010
 Wellness Program – registrations until 26th Mars
 Workshop “Science, Politics and the Media” 15th April
 International Conference “Learning and Teaching in Higher Education” – 15th and 16th of April
 1st Northern Health Unit Nursing Encounter – from 22nd, to 24th of April
 DNA Day – 25th April
 II Ibero-American Down’s Syndrome Congress – Granada 29th of April to 2nd of May
 Research Grant from the Foundation of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon -30th Mars
 10º Congress of the European Federation of Sexology – Porto 9th to 13th May 2010
 V Young European Scientist Meeting – Applications Open, until 30th June!
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100 AnosPropriedade e Edição: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa NIPC: 502662875  Periodicidade: Mensal  Diretor: Prof. Doutor Fausto J. Pinto Conselho Editorial: Prof. Doutor Fausto J. Pinto, Profª. Doutora Ana Sebastião, Prof. Doutor Mamede de Carvalho, Prof. Doutor António Vaz Carneiro, Prof. Doutor Miguel Castanho, Dr. Luís Pereira  Equipa Editorial:  Ana Raquel Moreira, Cristina Bastos, Isabel Varela, Joana Sousa, Maria de Lurdes Barata, Rui Gomes, Sónia Teixeira  Colaboração:  Gabinete de Relações Públicas, Internacionais e Comunicação  Versão Inglesa: AP|PORTUGAL- Language Services  Conceção: Metatexto, Lda. e-mail: news@medicina.ulisboa.pt  Sede do Editor e Sede da Redação: Avenida Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa Estatuto Editorial Anotado na ERC 

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