OBJECTIVE Unveiling the meaning of self-care as a caregiver of the partner suffering from cancer. Method Research based on Heidegger´s phenomenology, performed with ten women caregivers of partners with cancer in a municipality in the northwestern region of Paraná, between December 2013 and February 2014. RESULTS: From the discourse analysis, the ontological themes emerged: "forgetting to be a woman to surrender to the care of the other and choosing the other to the detriment of themselves". It was evident that, when caring for their partners, they find it difficult to take care of themselves, both on women's issues that give them pleasure and also regarding their own health. CONCLUSION: On this existential condition, the wives exercises care and spend a lot of time on it. They have to choose between the care of their partners and taking care of themselves. It should be underscored that nurses should develop specific activities with special reference to these women that dedicate so much to care-giving.
OBJECTIVE Unveiling the meaning of self-care as a caregiver of the partner suffering from cancer. Method Research based on Heidegger´s phenomenology, performed with ten women caregivers of partners with cancer in a municipality in the northwestern region of Paraná, between December 2013 and February 2014. RESULTS: From the discourse analysis, the ontological themes emerged: "forgetting to be a woman to surrender to the care of the other and choosing the other to the detriment of themselves". It was evident that, when caring for their partners, they find it difficult to take care of themselves, both on women's issues that give them pleasure and also regarding their own health. CONCLUSION: On this existential condition, the wives exercises care and spend a lot of time on it. They have to choose between the care of their partners and taking care of themselves. It should be underscored that nurses should develop specific activities with special reference to these women that dedicate so much to care-giving.