The study described and analyzed the insertion of family companions in giving care to a hospitalized adult according to a nursing team. It is a qualitative research, conducted in an adult outpatient's facility of a university hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with 14 members of the nursing team. The Creative and Sensitive Method was used for data production. In order to analyze data, some presuppositions of the French discourse analysis were applied. The themes unveiled were: the compulsory presence of a family companion; aspects of the singularity of the companion; and the lack of companion's commitment. The recognition of companions' singularity by nursing professionals is important to understand their idiosyncrasy, making them part or not of the care process, accepting limits and possibilities of each in giving care to the patient.
Hospitalization; Patient escort service; Family; Nursing team