This article seeks to reflect upon the process and organization of work in a Materials and Sterilization Center, based upon the perspective of historical and dialectic materialism, as well as theoretical contributions about work in the services sector, considering that even with all the necessities behind this service in health care institutions, it remains an invisible job. Such invisibility is due to the limited degree of importance given by academia; who do not consider it to be direct client care; it is valued less and comparable to domestic service. In so doing, it is devalued and generally placed in hidden locations within the health care institution, at times sharing space with waste, dirt, residues, secretions, odors, and the lack of physicians, who are the valued professionals within health care institutions. Some of these factors are outlined throughout this reflection, thus permitting a new perspective towards the Materials and Sterilization Center, seeking its visibility within the context of health care institutions.
Nursing; Sterilization; Health services