Introduction:

Nursing as a human and practical science frequently faces the care of people with some characteristics resulting from aging. The older person, a commonly said term, has different evocations and illustrations, depending on the culture, the research objectives and the life experiences of the one who address it. However, a definition created from the nursing's viewpoint has not yet been identified. Hence, it is necessary to analyze the international and the Cuban approaches on the final stage of the life course as well as its implications for the health, the environment, the care and the person as such.

Objective:

To systematize the term older person at the end of life in order to contextualize it in the field of nursing.

Methods:

A systematic literature review was made to develop a critical and reflective analysis on the contents of documents including books, documents and review articles published from 2006 to 2017. The keywords were older person, aging, longevity and nursing, which were identified through DECs or MeSH and searched for in SCielo.

Conclusions:

Systematization allowed finding the operational definition of older person at the end of life from the nursing perspective, which is conceived as an individual aged 60 years or over, with deteriorated health condition, loss of autonomy and irreversible total dependency from the biological, psychological, economic and social viewpoints. This person needs growing family and professional care since their human requirements may be gradually and intensely affected.

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