Territory: meanings produced by primary care nurses

Abstract

Know the meaning of territory from the perspective of primary care nurses. An exploratory-descriptive study with a qualitative approach was conducted in ten primary healthcare units located in the city of Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil. The social group consisted of eight permanent municipal employees who are nurses. Data collection took place from December 2022 to February 2023 through semi-structured interviews. The audio recordings amounted to approximately one hour and twenty minutes, which were transcribed manually and analyzed according to Bardin's theoretical framework. The meanings related to territory from the perspective of nurses working in primary care were organized into three thematic categories, namely: territory understood as the area of coverage for professional healthcare services, territory seen as a meeting place for healthcare professionals with priority groups, and territory interpreted as a space for care management. The meanings regarding territory have been decoded as the geographical space for the activities of the primary healthcare team professionals. Territory as the care location for priority groups, with emphasis on children, pregnant women, elderly individuals diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes, bedridden patients, migrants, individuals with disabilities, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Finally, (re)recognized as the place where action planning, organization of healthcare practices, service coordination, primary team supervision, and care evaluation take place.