The aim of the present study was to discuss the way visibility constitutes a power device in the everyday practice of the Mobile Emergency Care Service in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A qualitative case study was developed and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 31 workers of the service (five physicians, 11 nurses, seven nursing assistants and eight ambulance drivers) and submitted to discourse analysis. The analysis of power relations in the service allowed to verify that there is not an only one source from which the power emanates in this organizational structure. Power is exercised through many techniques and their sources are scattered, diffuse, interchangeable and even confusing. Although there is a hierarchical structure formally established, a parallel network to this structure is formed. It was also observed that the visibility generated by radio communication provides constant supervision, which generates tension within the team.
(SAMU), um serviço do Sistema de Saúde Brasileiro, é influenciado por determinantes económicos, políticos e simbólicos, tornando-se um sistema de interesses e uma arena de conflitos. Objetivos: Compreender como as práticas de poder configuram as relações e os limites profissionais no SAMU de Belo Horizonte, Brasil. Metodologia: Trata-se de um Estudo de Caso qualitativo que se utilizou do referencial pós-estruturalista. Resultados: Sob a ótica dos limites profissionais e das delimitações territoriais no trabalho do SAMU, percebe-se as dificuldades para reconhecerem o grupo enquanto equipa de trabalho, enquanto os seus discursos reforçam a histórica dominação da classe médica sobre os demais profissionais. Conclusão: Para os profissionais do SAMU um dificultador é identificar e compreender os tênues limites entre o seu espaço de trabalho e o dos outros, já que o seu espaço de atuação corresponde a todo território da cidade e tentar delimitá-lo é um desafio maximizado pela fragmentação dos serviços de saúde e dos conflitos existentes, os quais favorecem ações individualistas prejudiciais à proposta de integração do sistema de saúde. Background: The Mobile Emergency Care Service (Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência-SAMU), which is provided by the Brazilian Health System, is influenced by economic, political and symbolic determinants, making it a system of interests and an area of conflicts. Objectives: To understand how power practices shape relationships and professional boundaries at the SAMU of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Methodology: This is a qualitative case study based on the poststructuralist framework. Results: From the perspective of professional and territorial boundaries in the work performed at the SAMU, there are difficulties in recognising the group as a work team, while its discourses reinforce the historical dominance of the medical profession over the other professions. Conclusion: SAMU professionals struggle to identify and understand the thin line between their workspace and the workspace of others as their area of activity corresponds to the city as a whole. Setting its limit is a huge challenge due to the fragmentation of health services and the existing conflicts, which promote individualistic interventions that undermine the proposal to integrate the health care system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.