Background and objective: vegetative life occurs after serious and widespread damage of brain cortex and deep coma and because of the certain conditions, the responsibility of care for these patients is on their family after discharging from the hospital which influences the physical and mental health of caregivers. The aim of this study is explaining the patient care process for vegetative patients. Methodology: this descriptive-analytical study was conducted by qualitative method in June 2018 in Tehran. Participants of the study were 8 individuals who were selected based on the purposive sampling. Data were collected by deep and unstructured interviews and observation until data saturation and emergence of the main themes in the face-to-face form. Data were analyzed by content analysis. Findings: the results of the data analysis regarding the challenges of the vegetative patients' caregiver indicated 5 main themes and 15 sub-themes as the research axes. The main themes include internal conflict, family reaction, communication with patient, family relationships and difficulty of care. Conclusion: family caregivers of vegetative patients experience various challenges from conflict to problems in the relations and difficulty in care. The results of this study can be considered in the planning care and treatment of patients before, during and after discharge by top policy-makers and managers, middle managers and nursing managers in determining educational, care and therapeutic needs of patients and families of these patients.

<p>The death of the cerebral cortex is a particular type of brain death that occurs after the destruction of the cerebral cortex (the hemispheres of the brain). It is said that the individual has gone through a vegetative state. This cortex is responsible for controlling voluntary activities of the body. This condition is caused by a coma (anesthesia), and sometimes the individual remains in this state for several years. Although the person looks awake, his/her eyes are open and has some involuntary movements, there is no signs of mental and cognitive function. Moreover, the individual is physically in a state of dementia. Coma is a state in which a person cannot be awakened and does not respond to any stimulation including pain. Generally it lasts few days to a few weeks, after which some patients gradually recover, but some permanently lose all brain function (brain death), while others evolve to a vegetative state (VS). Patients in VS are unconscious and unaware of their surroundings, but they continue to have a sleep-wake cycle and can have periods of consciousness. They are able to breathe spontaneously, retain their gag, cough, sucking, and swallowing reflexes. They often look fairly “normal” to families and friends who hope and pray for their full recovery. Laws and regulations in Islamic countries originate from popular jurisprudence. Therefore, by arguing that the well-known principles of Islam are necessarily legitimate, the phenomenon of vegetative state has been recognized. Jurisprudents have conflicting opinions on brain deaths and these perspectives cannot be considered as a widespread legal basis at the level of macro policy for administrative, medical and judicial affairs. In criminal law, maniac has no criminal responsibility because the punishment is not in line with the purpose of punishment. Consequently, restrictions will be imposed on the patients. Therefore, it can be concluded that a person with vegetative state is compatible with the insanity.</p>