This is an exploratory and descriptive study, with a qualitative approach conducted with nursing professionals of a University Hospital. It aimed to search for the meaning of being an elderly person and identify the pleasures and sufferings in taking care of elderly people. The data were collected through a semi-structured survey. The content of the surveys was analyzed by theme analysis. The data were analyzed based on three axes: the meaning of being an elderly patient; factors of pleasure; and factors of suffering in elderly health care. The overcoming of limits, valuing of health care rendered, and experience exchanges gave pleasure to the workers. The suffering of workers happened before situations like abandonment, lack of attention, and brewing death of the elderly people. The organization of supportive groups and spaces for workers to share the pleasure and suffering in elder caretaking.
Geriatric nursing; Labor nursing; Worker health