Brazilian Nursing Communication Symposium
SIBRACEN

Abstract

Sales Catarina Aparecida. Understanding nursing students’ language about care. In: Proceedings of the 8. Brazilian Nursing Communication Symposium [Proceedings online]; 2002  May 02-03; São Paulo, SP, Brazil. 2002 [cited 2024 Apr 20]. Available from: URL: http://www.proceedings.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=MSC0000000052002000200029&lng=en&nrm=van .

This research aims to understand the conception of undergraduate nursing students about the meaning of care in their profession. To achieve this goal, I start from apprehensions that emerged from my daily experiences as assistant nurse and nursing teacher. I reflect on the road ahead and consider qualitative research from a phenomenological approach an adequate methodology to unveil the phenomenon under analysis. Three open categories emerge from discourse analysis: care as a possibility for being-with-the-other in a thoughtful way; care as action in disease prevention; care in the development of a global view on patients and family. When interpreting the meanings contained in discourse, I noticed that, in the conception of the subjects, care is a valuable instrument in improving the profession and at the same time a correct way for being-with-the-ill, expressing thoughtfulness.

Keywords : sense of care; phenomenological approach; nursing student.