Introduction: All health care employees in the Emergency surgical unit must be confronted with themselves and their own emotions while working in the resuscitation room and with patient’s relatives. If they do not devote enough attention to this, it can become stressful and difficult for them, which can consequently lead to a burnout. Aim: The aim of this master's thesis is to illuminate what health care employees are most afraid of when facing patient’s death, how much these events affect them and how they deal with such situations. Methods: In this study we used a qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews, where the questions were prepared beforehand and combined with additional questions during the interview itself. The audio recordings of acquired data were then fully transcribed. For data analysis we used the qualitative content analysis and the coding method devised by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). Results: The interview coding method gave three main themes: »the experience of death and facing the patient's relatives«, »the influence of death and stressors on health care employees«, and »the education and professional help«. The results show that health care employees develop enough empathy toward death itself, the patient's relatives and toward their colleagues in order to recognize their needs and provide help. Discussion and conclusion: Health care employees have only little time to gather their thoughts and emotions after facing death and patient's relatives. They do not always receive professional help when necessary, and have no regular trainings or education from this field. However, they are still aware of the seriousness of the topic and mutual cooperation and help. They are always ready to support each other by talking and sharing experiences.
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