The study identifies and analyses social representations of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nursing staff about their work and how they express feelings of sorrow and pleasure associated to their job. The theoretical and methodological reference used by this study was the Theory of Social Representations. Interviews were carried out with auxiliary nursing personnel (licensed practical nurse and nurse technician). The data were analyzed by analysis-of-content technique, in particular the enunciation. The results indicate that ICU units causes much suffering, forcing nursing staff to utilize, individually, several defense mechanisms traditionally described by psychoanalysis and psychopathology.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU); Nurse's aides; Nursing staff