Symbolic interactionism perspective of communication in management nursging: meaning, actions and changes

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the meanings, the meaningful actions and the changes that happen in the management communication in nursing, based in the symbolic interactionism perspective by means of a abstraction of the reality of nurses who manage the services of nursing a hospital unit, in the city of Manaus- Amazonas, North of Brazil, from June 15 2000 to January 12 of 2001. The informers of the study completed a sample of 30 nurses who included themselves in the selection criteria and ethical aspects. The techniques of free observation and semi-structured interview with speeches recorder in tapes were used. The information was organized in a text editor, passing by a detailed exam through the technique of content analysis. The result was taken from the interviews and the observations of the researcher, putting together a group of four great themes: management communication, meaningful actions, changes and tactile-visual field. The meaning of the management communication in nursing express that this kind of communication occurs through shared creation of meaningful symbols coming from interactive actions of managers and yours subordinates. Concerning the meaningful actions, they are symbols with different meaning, constructed by communication and interaction of nurse-managers with the other people, from which the more evidenced were the care management, the managing functions, and interpersonal relationship. For these informers, the changes became possible through the interpretative process of each people involved in the managing communication, as each change was considered a real fact the makes part of the nursing routine. It was realized in the tactile-visual field that the nature of the communication objects exist for the nurses as products of symbolic interaction with the managing work of nursing and hospital as a whole. From these results, it is established the thesis that the effective communication in the managing in nursing occurs through the partaking of meaningful symbols constructed by means of interaction due to the communication process in the missionary work of nursing – the human care.