OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clients' tactile perception toward living with a peritoneal dialysis catheter indicating their care needs. METHODS: This qualitative study was based on the principles of social poetics and according to the research group. It was carried out in the period from March to May 2006 and it used dynamics of artistic creation with seven clients, in a university hospital. RESULTS: The analyses pointed at the adaptation, denial, care, indifference, indisposition, illbeing, which revealed the categories self-esteem and self-image. CONCLUSIONS: The group, as the active subject in the research, reported their experiences through dialogues. Through creativity, unconscious, unknown and unexpected knowledge emerged.
Nursing; Peritoneal dialysis; Perception; Self concept
