The (in)visible in the daily work routine of nurses in triage with risk classification

Abstract

This is a qualitative approach case study seeking to comprehend the daily work routine of nurses working in triage with risk classification at an emergency care unit. Michel de Certeau's theory on everyday life was used as a reference. The data were collected using open interviews with 20 nurses and observation at the place of work, and were subjected to thematic content analysis. It was found that the daily working life being studied has strategic elements; the Manchester Protocol, impositions and obligations. Such elements endeavor to isolate the subjects into a normative site, a visible structure, where they can be controlled, monitored and demanded of. However, the daily work routine has (in)visible tactics, specific to each subject practicing in the site. These are care practices that bypass the strategic elements. It was concluded that the daily work routine under study goes beyond the routine, despite regulation, with visible and invisible daily tactics emerging. These are resourceful practices, the nurses own form of care/way of doing things that deals with micro resistance.