Online braz. j. nurs. (Online); 13 (2), 2014
Publication year: 2014
Aim:
To apprehend the social representations of Portuguese nurses regarding the stress that they experience in emergency care. Method:
This research was based on the Social Representations Theory. Through the use of the free recall technique, used on a sample of 80 nurses, it was possible to identify the probable central and peripheral elements of the social representations from the semantic universe of the inductive terminology stress. The answers collected were analyzed using the EVOC software. Results:
The EVOC analysis permitted clarification of the links between the categories, and to visualize the structural aspect of the representations. Discussion:
Nurses regard stress in emergency care as harmful to their health, indicated by such words as "overload", "work" and "search" being mentioned more frequently and considered more important by the respondents. Conclusion:
The study of the elements of social representation of these workers needs to be taken to a greater depth. This complementation is very important in order to better understand and describe the social representations from the stress experienced by nurses in emergency care...
