The Outcome of Nursing Error as Attractive to the Media

Abstract

Objective: to interpret, from the perspective of the Theory of Communicative Action, how the outcome of nursing errors can become attractive to the media, highlighting the main implications for the image of the profession and the imaginary of society. Method: qualitative research, carried out in documentary sources using news published in the major newspapers available online in two countries, Brazil and Portugal, from 2012 to 2016. The analysis of the findings was carried out following the steps of hermeneutics, based on the Theory of Communicative Action. The data were organized and coded in the ATLAS.ti software. Results: the research included 112 published news. Four categories emerged from the analysis: The highlights in the headlines - The beginning of persuasion; Combining image and initial text - An explosive mix; The error that is not an error - The error that is a crime; and Applying the validity claims in the discourses. Conclusion: the media are continuous producers of ideologies and, therefore, possess social responsibility by inducing misinterpretations that can negatively interfere in the nurse-patient interaction. Giving greater emphasis to the outcome of the error, the media influences negatively the people perception of nursing labour which has a unique social importance.