This work consists in an ethnographic study which aimed at understanding the cultural meaning attributed by nursing teams to humanized care in Intensive Care Units of the University Hospital of Goiás Federal University. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection with nursing teams at their workplace. Three main categories emerged from the data: humanized care -- "love the other as you love yourself"; humanized care -- "it's not present as it should be"; stress and suffering -- "the ones who care need to be looked after". The cultural theme that emerged from the data was: the humanized care -- "a lot is said about it, but little is experienced". This theme emphasize the reality of the care at the ICU that involves a nursing team with the humanization concept synthesized on the expression: "love the other as you love yourself"; but in a practical way, the caring process does not reveal this deep thought.
humanism; intensive care unit; ethnography