HUMANIZATION IN THE WORK PROCESS IN THE VIEW OF INTENSIVE CARE UNIT NURSES

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the factors which promote and hinder humanization among nursing staff, in the perception of the nurses from an intensive care unit. This qualitative-descriptive study was undertaken in 2012, with 10 nurses who worked in an adult intensive care unit in a teaching hospital in the Brazilian state of Paraná. The data, collected through semistructured interviews, were analyzed using content analysis. Two categories emerged: factors which promote, and factors which hinder, work-related humanization among the nursing workers. It was concluded that the factors which contributed to humanization were related to the work undertaken as a team, to good interpersonal relationships, to recognition by colleagues, the institution and the worker herself, to effective communication, and to personal values. Lack of recognition for the work undertaken, on the other hand, and attitudes of individualism, were factors which hindered the realizationof the relationships, for establishing humanization among the workers.

Keywords

• Humanization of care
• Work environment
• Critical care nursing
• Intensive care units