Perceptions of nursing technicians of an intensive care unit on work humanization

Abstract

Humanization is understood as a value, as it regains the respect for human life. This study aimed to investigate the perception of the nursing staff of the Intensive Care Unit regarding humanization of work. The study, approved by the Ethics Committee under protocol 076-04/PPH/08 was an exploratory, qualitative study, using as reference the Politics of Occupational Health. The study included eight technical nursing intensive care unit of a hospital in the northwestern state of Rio Grande do Sul / BR. Data were collected through interviews in 2008 and analyzed using thematic analysis. From that, five categories emerged: Perceptions regarding humanization; Nasty attitudes in the workplace; Reasons for inhumane attitudes; What makes working dehumanized and attitudes that may promote humanization in the workplace. For the subjects studied, teamwork and dialogical relationships can contribute to the humanization of work and professional devaluation and authoritarianism are attitudes that dehumanize the work. It is believed that the action to harmonize and humanize the work environment should start from a joint effort of all professionals involved in the care process.