Glimpsing “The Architect” in the daily work of nurses in hospital management

DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.20153902239247

Abstract

This study aimed at understanding the daily work of nurses in managerial practice in medium-sized hospitals, based on
working process proposed by the architect Richard Sennet. This is a qualitative descriptive study was conducted through
a case study whose scenario consisted of four medium size hospitals in a city located in the northern region of Minas
Gerais. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews with twelve nurses in management positions
in strategic and intermediate levels of a hospital organization. Study participants were 12 nurse managers that met the
established inclusion criteria. Data were submitted to content analysis, and the study uncovered four empirical categories
operationalized in three stages: pre-analysis, material exploration and treatment of results and interpretation. The analysis
showed the following empirical categories, “the nurse in the search for quality of care,” “leadership as essential skill of the
nurse manager” and “the formation of the nurse for the exercise of the managerial function. The results showed that nurse
managers have interest and concern for the quality of care, vision of leadership as a key component in working relationships
and communication. In addition, they stressed the importance of academic training for the performance of management
functions and everyday practices in this function. We conclude that nurse managers understands their importance in the
hospital, seeing themselves as professionals and experts of labor and administrative relationships, proposing strategies to
achieve a planned care with a higher quality.