The group activities developed and worked
on in the research process sought to evaluate
their scope regarding the change in behavior
and perspective of humanization of the teenagers,
contributing to their well-being through soft
technology and revealing the perceived benefits
to the study group.
The presentation and approach of the participants
was planned, based on different group
techniques, which followed pre-established
steps for each meeting. This understanding allowed
bonding, commitment and humanization
to be worked on in all the meetings, and for the
experience of care during hemodialysis to be
expressed and shared.
The benefits of the experiential workshops
for the group included allowing for the close
interaction of the participants, the promotion
of integration, and working on the humanization
of assistance and allowed for the sharing
of perceptions, knowledge and experiences
of daily life, as the teenagers expressed their
own way of perceiving, feeling and reacting to
the issues under discussion. In addition, when
listening to different experiences, they reacted
positively, encouraged by the dialogue that was
established in the group.
At each meeting, we could see greater participation
by the adolescents and realized that
the techniques favored interaction, disinhibition
and initiatives in the development of the
proposed activities, as well as improved mood
and respect in relation to the responses from colleagues.
We also noticed changes in the way they
got dressed, personal hygiene and appearance
(makeup, painted nails, tidy hair), indicating an
improvement in self-esteem.
By using soft technology, it was possible to
create a space for the expression of thoughts and
feelings, allowing the observation of behavioral
changes and the identification of emotional
responses, associated with the experience of suffering
from chronic renal failure and undergoing
hemodialysis.
The choice of approach was based on the
potentiating characteristic of group treatment.
In this sense, Maximino(9) refers to the “provocative”
ability of group activity that produces a
middle ground in which the production of this
group can materialize in a personal and environmental
connection. Thus, the voice, sounds and
visual stimuli constitute this materiality.
The practice of nursing care that aims to
work with groups and use soft technology is
intended to provide a collective construction of
the daily life of people with CRF on hemodialysis,
questioning their life situations. As a result, it
contributes to the mental health and life quality
of these individuals, who shift from a secondary
position to being protagonists in the care process.
The activity requires professional nurses,
92
Ramos IC, Cavalcante LP, Braga VAB, Aguiar MIF, Cavalcante MBPT. Existential workshops: soft technology in nursing care
for adolescents on hemodialysis. Online braz j nurs [internet] 2015 Mar [cited year month day]; 14 (1):85-94. Available
from: http://www.objnursing.uff.br/index.php/nursing/article/view/5052
who in this group take on the role of facilitator
in the process, to commit to inserting elements
in their practices aimed at these goals.
The characteristic of technology in nursing
is peculiar, because when taking care of human
beings it is not possible to generalize behaviors,
but adapt them to different situations, in order
to provide individual and appropriate care to
people(12,13).
Work in healthcare cannot be expressed
based only on the equipment used and on
structured technological knowledge, because
its more strategic actions represent intervention
processes that work as technologies of relationship,
of meetings, of subjectivity that go beyond
the structured technological knowledge(14 15).
In addition to the biological and subjective
transformations that are generators of conflicts,
adolescence can be even more difficult if it
includes a disease such as CRF, which results in
many restrictions. Adolescents are more likely to
have their mental health affected, compared to
healthy individuals. Thus, an adolescent suffering
from CRF is more susceptible to psychological
distress(16,17).
Reflecting on care with regards to technology
makes us think about the inherent
ability of human beings to develop innovations
that transform their daily lives. In this
perspective, nurses should be constantly
learning, welcoming new technologies, rethinking
their practices and innovating, and
have the ability to apply new technological
developments to the care process. It’s no use
having high technology for the development
of nursing care, if it does not incorporate humanizing
elements, because without them the
care becomes fragmented.
Care practices are a challenge for nursing
professionals, because each person has values
and principles that can influence care. It is necessary
to consider that each patient has his/her
own way of facing different situations that can
be quite stressful. Thus, we analyzed the approach
of nursing care professionals, considering
the fact that care practices require human
relationships, and the fact that hemodialysis
nurses rely on the interactive process to conduct
this work(18).
Humanizing, in health care, means to understand
each person’s uniqueness and needs,
and thus create conditions for he/she to have
more possibilities to exert their will autonomously;
it means to treat people differently, taking
into account their values and experiences,
avoiding any form of negative discrimination,
considering their uniqueness, complexity and
completeness. Caution, therefore, encompasses
acts, behaviors and attitudes(19,20).
In the practice discussed herein, the commitment
was related to the transformation of
that moment (dialysis) and the impact of the
technology used (soft) that might occur within
the offered possibilities. This change was made
possible from the perception and discussion in
terms of the reality, the meeting of new possibilities
and the awareness that was raised individually
and collectively in the group space.