OBJECTIVE: To understand the personal dimension of the work process for nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) of a university hospital in the state of São Paulo. METHODS: A qualitative study using the phenomenological method. We interviewed 12 nurses working in adult, pediatric and coronary ICUs in this hospital; to analyze results, we used the phenomenonogical method. RESULTS: The analysis of the results identified the category, personal dimension of ICU work, which included the themes, "rewarding work", "exhausting work", and, "lack of appreciation of the work". CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed that the ICU nurses interviewed identified with their work, but that they experience discouraging situations resulting from high workload, which hinders the development of the work process and compromises the quality of care.
Nursing process; Nursing care; Nursing service; hospital
