Redistribution of salary or professional recognition? The difficult construction of a profession, the Peruvian nursing

Abstract

The study presents the current profile of Peruvian nursing, its professional construction and its dilemmas, emphasizing its socio-cultural features. To this end, an extensive literature was reviewed, interviewing nurses in key positions and analyzing secondary source data. This study keeps its distance from other studies on health care professions as a workforce, to analyze the low social legitimacy of the nursing profession despite being the great operator of health care services in Peru. This resulting psychological overload, additionally to the work overload is reflected in job dissatisfaction, stress, burnout, intention of changing careers, and a strong desire to migrate. As a result, Peruvian nursing has opted for three alternatives: a) resilience, which means to adapt to this unfavorable situation; b) abandoning the profession, or leaving the country; and c) reaction, which gathers all manifestations of the profession against abandonment, informality, and mediocrity. In conclusion, the biggest challenge of professions given low social value is the recognition and not only the salary redistribution. This significant challenge for Peruvian nursing does not mainly relate to legal professionalization, but professionalism, which must result in greater legitimacy and autonomy.

Uso de tecnologias de informação e comunicação: estudo quantitativo com enfermeiros gestores hospitalares

“…As for the socio-occupational profile of nurses, most were young nurses with partners deserves to be highlighted, a finding similar to that recorded in the national and international literature, which points out nursing as predominantly female, young adult, in the age group of 30 years old, with a bond with partners (1,(7)(8)(9) .…”

“…ONLINE BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF NURSING, 21:e20226584 However, studies that discuss the age group under the prism of the inherent requirements of the profession, which are reflected in the job market, deserve attention, since only 2.1% of professionals working in Brazil are over 60 years old. In this area, exposure to work activities of intense physical and psychological exhaustion, in addition to biological risks, generates early professional leaves, with six out of ten professionals being less than 40 years old [8][9] . In addition, other studies reinforce that, although the new generations of women become very early users of technology, even in percentages that exceed those of men, their presence in the study, design and development of technologies and ICT remains a minority.…”

Estratégias para o enfrentamento da pandemia de COVID-19 em hospitais universitários: estudo descritivo

“…The tension and insecurity inherent to the care provided to patients with a suspected and/or confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis increases stress and affects countless factors related to the workers' health, leading to wear out and professional exhaustion. Therefore, the emotional burden associated with work overload is one of the main causes of stress in nurses, which can lead them to illness and dissatisfaction at work (17) . In this context, the importance of the role of nurse-managers in the search for strategies to reduce possible psychological problems resulting from insecurity, excessive workload and exhaustive work, among other factors that are affecting professionals stands out (18) .…”

Factores pronósticos de mortalidad en peruanos hospitalizados por Covid 19 y vacunados previamente contra SARS-COV-2 durante el 2021 y 2022

“…Esto ha fortalecido los problemas estructurales en el sistema de salud pública y ha contribuido a un número significativamente mayor de muertes intrahospitalarias. Además, incluso la percepción de un sistema de salud sobrecargado puede conducir a un exceso de mortalidad por COVID-19 y otras condiciones porque las personas pueden evitar buscar atención hasta que su condición clínica se haya deteriorado o incluso pueden no buscar atención médica y morir en casa (25,26).…”