Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To identify the psychic workload present in the work process of nurses working in Maternity and Obstetric Centers.
METHOD
A descriptive qualitative study developed with 14 nurses working in obstetric centers and maternity units of two hospitals. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview, developed from October of 2015 to January of 2016, and exploited based on Content Analysis.
RESULTS
The results were grouped into two categories: the nurses' working process and their psychic workload; and the maintenance of (in)appropriate practices such as psychic workload, demonstrating that the psychic workload is materialized in multiple elements of the work process, passing through assignments, interpersonal relationship and maintaining inadequate pipelines.
CONCLUSIONS
It was identified that the psychic workload in the nurses’ work process in the studied context is related to the perpetuation of dehumanized practices and to the challenge of maintaining humanized practices.
Keywords:
Workload; Humanizing delivery; Occupational health; Nursing.