Nurses Action Histories in combat and control of tuberculosis in Paraíba in period from 1950 a 1980

Abstract

SUMMARY Objective: This qualitative study aims at getting to know nurses’ performance in the combat and control of tuberculosis in the period from 1950 to 1980, contextualizing it with the attention, medical-sanitary and private medical-assistential models. Material and Methods: An oral thematic story was elected as the research method, for the collection and analysis of data. Nine nurses composed the study sample and they acted concomitantly in the teaching and assistance of tuberculosis in Paraíba, in the mentioned period. The data collection was done through an interview technique with a semi-structured script, containing a guiding question, “Tell me your story as an active nurse in the tuberculosis field in the period between 1950 and 1980”. The data were displayed in a narrative format and analyzed through the discussion of the converging and diverging themes that appear in the speeches. Results: Through the reports, it was noticeable, in the context of medical-assistential model, that the work of the nurse was guided by sanitary education, an instrument used to reach the actions that involved medicamentous therapy. In the context of private medical-assistential model, it is noticed that the emphasis diverges from the sanitary education and is led to emphasize on the medicamentous treatment, what reinforces the characterization of this model. The focus is on the worry about the adherence of the patient to this treatment. Conclusion: It was realized that the nurses’ performance in the tuberculosis field in Paraíba, considering the two discussed models, comprehended an assistance focused on a fragmented care, in which the attention was given to the disease as an object of combat and control. DESCRIPTORS Tuberculosis. Nursing. Models of attention.