Spaces for deliberation in nursing staff. A study case in nurse workers at a public hospital in Lomas de Zamora, 2021

Abstract

In this article we will analyze the importance of spaces for deliberation among nurses working in the neonatology service of a public hospital. For this purpose, we will use a qualitative study, through semi-structured interviews with nurses from the morning and afternoon shifts working in the neonatal therapy of a public hospital in Lomas de Zamora. The fieldwork was conducted between July and August 2021. Among the main results we found the absence of formal spaces for deliberation in the nursing staff, spaces not provided for by the hospital service; bringing as a consequence the impoverishment of the caregiving dimension of the care-producing process. Although nurses are able to exchange their opinions and give a voice in informal deliberation spaces, this implies a willingness on their part to mobilize their subjectivity and go beyond what is prescribed. This subjective mobilization is not recognized by the service, which results in a disinvolvement on the part of the staff, and the impossibility of forming a work group that takes joint responsibility. One of the consequences of this disinvolvement is the fragmentation of the work process, leaving the production of care in the hands of the hard and soft technologies, annulling the intersubjective encounter and withdrawing knowledge into the private sphere.