Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the social representations of vulnerability and empowerment of nurses, in the context of their relationships with the work environment, in which they care for people with HIV/AIDS. A qualitative and descriptive study was carried out with 30 nurses in a public hospital that is a reference for HIV/AIDS care. The theoretical framework of the procedural approach from the Social Representations Theory was adopted. The interviews were transcribed and submitted to thematic content analysis using the software Nvivo 9.0. Vulnerability was expressed as embarrassment, dissatisfaction, distress, frustration, insecurity, overload and stress. In turn, empowerment was expressed in the form of positive interpersonal relationships, moral and operational support from the team, adaptations and improvisations, acquisition of scientific knowledge, and professional self-protection.
Highlights
Despite the theoretical construct of vulnerability being broadly used in various areas of knowledge, including health and nursing, some studies have defended its non-crystallization, and the need to revisit and constantly question its fundamental aspects
The object of this study consist of the social representations of vulnerability and empowerment developed by nurses in the context of their relationships with their working environment, in which they care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the hospital setting
The number two category is broadened, comprising 277 Record Units (RUs), distributed in 21 themes relating to 16.3% of the corpus, called “The hospital institution and its infrastructure: hub of vulnerability and empowerment in sociosymbolic constructs of nurses that care for patients with HIV/AIDS.”
Summary
Despite the theoretical construct of vulnerability being broadly used in various areas of knowledge, including health and nursing, some studies have defended its non-crystallization, and the need to revisit and constantly question its fundamental aspects. Based on this statement, studies that portray how different social groups conceive of their vulnerability are important, as well as studies that show the knowledge and practices nurses use to reduce vulnerability through empowerment. The object of this study consist of the social representations of vulnerability and empowerment developed by nurses in the context of their relationships with their working environment, in which they care for people living with HIV/AIDS in the hospital setting. The threats experienced risk the continuity of their existence, the quality of life that they have or can attain, as well as the social fabric in which they are included, both in the everyday of being cared for or a caregiver, taking into account their individual characteristics, the stage of the disease, the setting that the care assumes when psychosocially reconstructed, and the sociocultural context that surrounds it.[1,2]
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