Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Archives - Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To analyze the configuration of power relations among the multiprofessional team in the bedside round process in the hospital.

Methods:

Qualitative research with data analyzed through discourse analysis, based on Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework. From September to December 2022, we conducted interviews and field observations with the multiprofessional team at a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 37 professionals.

Results:

The participants pointed out that the experiences of the professionals involved in bedside rounds depend on how the physician conducts the process, and the physician-centered process makes it difficult for other professionals in the team to participate.

Final considerations:

The way hospitals organize bedside rounds does not promote knowledge articulation for their professionals. It hinders the circulation of power and harms interdisciplinary work in a process that maintains the physician as the main actor in clinical decisions.