The Head Nurse in Oncological Units: Interventions of Subjectivity on the Organization of Healthy Workplaces

Abstract

The practice of nursing in oncology places professionals in close contact with situations of pain, finitude and death, besides mutilations, hopelessness, and expectations of cure. The therapeutical aggressiveness and the required adjustments to the treatment process comprise stress generating elements for patients, relatives and the team. This is the scenario where heads of oncological nursing develop their practice, and teamwork relationships are held. This paper seeks to discuss the interface of nursing leadership with its subjectivity and its intervention in organizing healthy workplaces in oncological units. It is a descriptive study of qualitative approach. For a theoretical basis, the National Humanizing Policy guidelines have been adopted. Twelve head nurses working at a federal public institution which is a reference on oncology took part in the project. For data collection, the focal group technique was used. Content analysis has shown an analytical category: the head nurse in oncological units – interventions of subjectivity in the organization of healthy workplaces –, besides two other categories. The outcomes suggest the need of a humanized managing practice, so that a healthier environment for the nursing team performance could be provided. This paper concludes that head nurses can act as facilitators for humanized working relationships, as long as they are able to adopt strategies that encourage autonomy, protagonism and co-responsibility of individuals involved in the health production process through the construction of new meeting places.