Professional education: the nursing student's experiences in providing care for critical patients

Abstract

The aim of this study is to notice the experiences of students following a nursing technical course while learning to provide care for critical patients in the public intensive care context. Eleven students from a Professionalizing School of Ribeirão Preto - SP were interviewed between July and October 2006. The phenomenological approach technique was used. Three themes were built in an articulated manner: the student's closeness to the technical intensive care world; the student's sensitivity in the technical ICU world; and the process of learning in the ICU. It is necessary to review the education process by incorporating knowledge, abilities and attitudes which allow a better understanding of the ICU in the present health context and in the subjective and social world of the critical patient. With such purpose, it is essential to transcend the technical training and to build an educational practice consistent with the formation of the human person.