Humanized Nursing Care in an Intensive Care Unit in Angola: Facilitating and Hindering Factors Revealed

Abstract

Objective: to describe the aspects that facilitate and hinder the work of nursing professionals regarding the humanized care in an intensive care unit in Angola. Method: descriptive, qualitative research, conducted in an Intensive Care Unit of a general hospital in Huambo, Angola, Africa, with 15 nursing professionals, in 2020, through semi-structured interviews. The Collective Subject Discourse to analyze the data was used; and to organize the data, the QualiquantiSoft software was used. Results: five central ideas emerged from the statements: two involving the facilitating factors; and three involving the difficulties in providing humanized care. The facilitating factors refer to the involvement of the multidisciplinary healthcare team and the interpersonal relationships of the nursing team. The hindering factors are linked to the lack of material resources, equipment, and supplies; the scarcity of human resources; and the poor specialized skills of the nursing team. Conclusion: when referring to the humanization of nursing care, its facilitating factors are linked to behavior and professional relationships, while the difficulties, for the most part, involve management aspects that are not under the professionals’ responsibility, thus requiring attention from the managers of the institution.