title: [The meaning of caring in the intensive care unit].
abstract: This qualitative research with a phenomenological approach searches to understand the meaning of care in the highly technical world of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), viewed from the nurses' perspective. It was developed in a University Hospital in Porto Alegre, RS, between 1998-2000, with seven nurses as participants. The instruments used to gather information were observation and semi-structured interviews. The analysis was based on the proposal of Martins and Bicudo, using the phenomenological modality or structure of the situated phenomenon, with two stages. The phenomenon emerged under the aspect of sixteen propositions revealing care in the ICU from the nurses' perspective.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. fatimalucena@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Amália de Fátima
authors.initials: Ade F
authors.lastname: Lucena
authors.forename: Maria da Graça Oliveira
authors.initials: Mda G
authors.lastname: Crossetti
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D009729:Nursing / Q000592:standards*