Existential experience of children with cancer under palliative care.

Objective: To understand the existential experience of children with cancer under Palliative Care from the Humanistic Nursing Theory's point of view.

Method: This is a field and qualitative research, in which eleven children participated, supported by the Support Centre for Children with Cancer in Paraíba State. To collect data it was used the Story Drawing Procedure. The data were qualitatively analyzed based on Humanistic Nursing Theory.

Results: From the analysis of the empirical study's subject, the following thematic categories have emerged: children experiencing fear, sadness, anguish and insecurity in the face of their diagnosis and children experiencing fear of their family falling apart because of the possibility of dying.

Conclusion: It is fundamental the participation of nurses in the Palliative Care to the children with cancer in order to strengthen the trust between the children and the professional to have the relationship of dialogue as central axis.