Representações sociais das infecções relacionadas à assistência à saúde por profissionais de saúde que trabalham em unidades de terapia intensiva.

Abstract

The health assistance to health-related infection makes itself one of the biggest governmental, institutional and worldwide professional challenges, presenting a critical public health issue. Generally, it increases the hospitalization time, costs during treatment and patient-familiar stress. Amongst hospital environments, the Intensive Care Units possess higher levels of infection, due to its technological complexity. They provide care for severe patients, dependents of life support. Considering such scenario, the purpose of the present work is to understand the social representations of HRA graduated professionals on Intensive Care Units, from the identification of associated factors. This work is of Qualitative nature under the light of Social Representations Theory and Central Core Theory. The samples were nurses, physiotherapists and doctors working on ICU patient assistance of Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil. The analysis occurred through patient evocations from the inducing term, hospital infection, which were processed by the Evoc software and presented on the four-house chart and descriptive charts. The evocation hygienehands, infection, medicine and microorganism builds the probable social representation central core of the health professional group. It was possible to identify that the participants associated the occurrence of HRA, specially the patient conditions and the flaws of other professionals through the caring process. Therefore, the notion of responsibility and blame was not observed as a socially shared knowledge by this group. Hence the health professionals share a knowledge yet rooted, essentially on biological knowledge, built upon shared experiences and work environment practices. The implantation of effective permanent educational actions that allow subsides for reflexion and transformation of spoken and practiced knowledge by health professionals is suggested.