Work process in the neonatal intensive care unit: building a holistic-oriented care

Abstract

This is a qualitative study aimed at analyzing the performance of healthcare professionals, as well as their contribution to a holistic-oriented care towards newborn babies in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The study was carried out in the Sofia Feldman Hospital, in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study's subjects were ten healthcare professionals who cared for newborns in the NICU, and seven parents of admitted newborns. Data was collected by means of workshops and participant observation processes. Data were treated and analyzed by means of discourse analysis concepts. The resulting data highlighted the following aspects: the potential and holistic-oriented practices of healthcare professionals; the presence or absence of healthcare actions that materialized the holistic care; the different perceptions of the participants about the work carried out by the team; and in what sense the rationale of the work organization encompassed the workers' collective performance.