Desenvolvimento da competência liderança de enfermeiros no ambiente hospitalar: efeitos de um processo de coaching integrativo / Development of nurses' leadership competence in the hospital environment: effects of an integrative coaching process

A liderança é uma competência que precisa ser desenvolvida durante a vida acadêmica e aprimorada ao longo da carreira profissional dos enfermeiros, propiciada pelas organizações de saúde ou pela busca individual planejada. O processo de coaching integrativo pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento da competência liderança e ocorre por meio de sessões com interação colaborativa, estimulando as potencialidades dos profissionais, o autodesenvolvimento e o autoconhecimento. Objetivo: analisar a competência liderança exercida por enfermeiros que atuam no ambiente hospitalar antes e após um processo de coaching integrativo. Método: estudo misto incorporado, por meio de um estudo quase experimental (QUANT), e coleta de dados qualitativos de forma complementar (qual). A primeira etapa (antes) consistiu na aplicação do Questionário de Autopercepção do Enfermeiro no Exercício da Liderança (QUAPEEL) para 46 enfermeiros e do Questionário de Percepção do Técnico/Auxiliar de Enfermagem do Exercício da Liderança (QUEPTAEEL) para 157 auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem de um hospital do Sul do Brasil. Em seguida, realizou-se a intervenção, por meio de um processo de coaching integrativo, com enfermeiros selecionados pelas respostas dos questionários. A segunda etapa (após) ocorreu três meses após a intervenção e incluiu a aplicação dos mesmos questionários para os oito enfermeiros que completaram a intervenção, e com 36 auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem de suas equipes. Realizou-se também uma entrevista semiestruturada com esses enfermeiros. Os resultados quantitativos foram processados por meio do software Statistica versão 7.0 e analisados por estatística descritiva e analítica. As entrevistas foram transcritas e analisadas pela análise de conteúdo, com apoio do software MAXQDA. Resultados: Na primeira etapa, identificou-se dificuldade na comunicação, e enfermeiros que não se autopercebiam como líderes. Após a intervenção, com o processo de coaching integrativo, as respostas dos questionários e das entrevistas mostraram que os oito enfermeiros passaram a se perceber como líderes, que desenvolveram habilidades e modificaram atitudes que levaram a uma liderança mais efetiva. O escore da avaliação da prática da liderança passou de uma média de 79 (DP=4.84) para 84,38 (DP=5.66) na percepção dos enfermeiros, e de uma média de 73,69 (DP=23.03) para 81,92 (DP=19.75) na percepção dos auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem. Na análise qualitativa, evidenciou-se melhor prática da liderança com as categorias: Comunicação efetiva; Interação com o supervisor; Desenvolvimento de vínculo e confiança com a equipe; Autoconhecimento e autodesenvolvimento para a melhor prática da liderança. Considerações Finais: o processo de coaching integrativo proporcionou o desenvolvimento da competência liderança entre enfermeiros assistenciais. Estes profissionais, que antes demonstravam dificuldade na comunicação com a equipe, que por vezes apresentavam medo de experienciar atitudes novas para o enfrentamento e resolução das situações adversas, tornaramse encorajados, obtiveram melhor autoconhecimento e, por meio deste, desenvolveram habilidades e atitudes que implicaram em uma liderança mais reconhecida pela equipe e por eles mesmos.

Leadership is a competence that needs to be developed during the academic life, and refined along nurses' professional career, fostered by health organizations or planned individual search. The integrative coaching process takes place with sessions of collaborative interaction, and may contribute to the development of the leadership competence, encouraging professionals' potentialities, their selfdevelopment and self-knowledge. Objective: to analyze the leadership competence performed by nurses, who work at hospital settings, before and after a process of integrative coaching. Method: incorporated, mixed study, by means of a quasiexperimental study (quantitative), and qualitative data collection, in a complementary way. The first step (before) comprised the application of the Questionnaire on Nurse Self-Perception of the Exercise of Leadership (QUAPEEL, in Portuguese) to 46 nurses, and the Questionnaire on the Perception of the Nursing Technicians/Nurse Aides on the Exercise of Leadership (QUEPTAEEL, in Portuguese) to 157 nurse aides and nursing technicians of a hospital in Southern Brazil. Subsequently, an intervention was held, by means of a process of integrative coaching with nurses selected by their questionnaire responses. The second step (after) was held three months from the end of the intervention, entailing the application of the same questionnaires to 8 nurses who went through the intervention, and 36 nurse aides/nursing technicians from their teams. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with those nurses. The quantitative results from the questionnaires were processed by means of the Statistica 7.0 software, and analyzed by descriptive and analytical Statistics. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by content analysis using the MAXQDA software. Results: In the first step, difficulty in communication and nurses who did not self-perceived as leaders were identified. After the intervention, using the process of integrative coaching, the questionnaire responses and interviews showed that those eight nurses started perceiving themselves as leaders, who developed skills, and changed attitudes, which led them to a more effective leadership. The score for the assessment of the leadership practice increased to an average of 84.38 (SD=5.66) from 79 (SD=4.84) in the nurses' perception, and an average of 81.92 (SD=19.75) from 73.69 (SD=23.03) in the nurse aides and nursing technicians' perception. Regarding the qualitative analysis, better practice of leadership was evidenced with the categories, as follows: Effective communication; Interaction with the supervisor; Development of bond and trust with the team; Self-knowledge and self-development for best leadership practice. Final Considerations: the process of integrative coaching resulted in the development of the leadership competence among the health care nurses. Such professionals, who formerly showed difficulty communicating with their team, sometimes evidencing fear of trying, of experiencing new attitudes to cope with and solve adverse situations, they became encouraged, with better self-knowledge, which made them develop skills and attitudes, resulting in better-recognized leadership by their team and themselves.

Psychologist in Italian hospital settings: An exploratory analysis of hospital physicians' representations and demands of psychological intervention

Aunque la Organización Mundial de la Salud ha evidenciado la importancia de adoptar modelos integrados de asistencia basados en el enfoque bio-psico-social, en los servicios de salud, como los hospitales, existe todavía mucha resistencia para su implementación. Se presenta un estudio exploratorio cualitativo dirigido a comprender las representaciones y las demandas de los médicos hospitalarios con respecto a la intervención psicológica en los contextos hospitalarios italianos. Conforme a este objetivo se desarrolló un guión de entrevista semi-estructurada y se entrevistaron 15 médicos italianos divididos por género, edad y especialidad médica. Fueron investigados las representaciones de la enfermedad, el acercamiento a los pacientes y los modelos de intervención, la experiencia de colaboración con psicólogos, las representaciones de dónde, cuándo y cómo los psicólogos podrían ser útiles en el contexto hospitalario, las visiones generales del hospital y de su futuro, los puntos de fuerza y de debilidad de su trabajo, las estrategias utilizadas para superar las dificultades diarias y las estrategias propuestas para mejorar el sistema hospitalario. El análisis de contenido de las entrevistas ha revelado que la intervención psicológica está representada predominantemente como una intervención a nivel individual dirigida a contener el distrés emocional en relación con la enfermedad. Además se ha evidenciado la falta de consideración de la competencia psicológica como útil para promocionar el funcionamiento organizativo de los servicios hospitalarios. Estos resultados pueden apoyar la investigación futura en esta área y son utilizados para discutir las oportunidades de un diálogo constructivo entre ciencias médica y psicológica en los contextos hospitalarios.

During the years, the World Health Organization has been emphasising the importance of promoting integrated models of care consistent with a bio-psycho-social approach to health-illness. Nonetheless, healthcare services still show much resistance to the implementation of such models and the use of multidisciplinary teams. As a consequence, and despite the efforts made over the years by psychologists, the role and specificity of psychological competence in healthcare settings continues to remain unclear. This is particularly true as regards hospital settings. Based on these considerations, this article presents an exploratory qualitative study aimed at understanding hospital physicians' representations of, and demands for, psychological intervention in Italian hospital settings. The main argument on which the study was based is that the integration of psychological competence into hospital settings very much depends on other professionals' representation of the psychological profession, as well as on the emotional symbolization of their work context and professional practice. A key role is played by physicians, whose representations of the psychological intervention in hospital settings have been under studied at the international level, and almost not studied with regard to the Italian context. The purpose of this study was to respond to this gap in the literature. In this regard, a semi-structured interview script was developed and used to interview 15 Italian hospital physicians varying in gender, age, and medical speciality. Participants were selected by convenience and interviews were carried out individually in the hospital settings. Representations of disease; approach to patients and models of intervention; experiences of collaboration with psychologists; representations of where, when and how psychologists could be useful in the hospital context; overall visions of one's hospital and its future; strengths and weaknesses of one's own work; strategies used to overcome everyday difficulties and strategies advocated to improve the hospital were focus of analysis. The interviews, administered by two researchers, were audio-recorded and transcribed. Then a content analysis was developed by three analysts that coded the units of the text (sequences) according to the categories and subcategories identified. The categories were: (a) perspective on medical intervention; (b) problems and weaknesses; (c) strengths; (d) current and future strategies; (e) psychosocial component of disease, and (f) relationship between Medicine and Psychology. Transcripts were analyzed independently by the analysts, and the interrater agreement was 83%. Results revealed a widespread view that psychological science is of limited relevance in the hospital context. The difficulty in perceiving psychologists as a medical resource appeared to be largely related to physicians' endorsement of a bio-medical approach, as well as to their lack of opportunities for formal and / or informal collaboration with psychologists. Psychologists were thought of primarily as diagnosticians or therapists, and psychological intervention was mainly characterized as an individual- level intervention whose main objective is to support the patient and manage his / her emotional response to the disease (and the response of his / her family). Despite physicians felt the hospital system plagued by problems, especially at the structural and functional levels, they did not envisage psychological competence as useful for fostering hospital organisational functioning. On the contrary, they advocated a top-down change in the hospital system, delegating responsibility for change to hospital management or policy makers. As a consequence, an urgent demand for Psychology remains unexpressed. Although based on a small sample, the present study provides useful insights which may prompt further research in this area. Furthermore, it provides information about the demand for psychological intervention in the hospital context which can be used to develop strategies to promote multidisciplinary care and integrated mind-body interventions. Results suggest the necessity to rethink professional roles and to promote a constructive dialogue between medical and psychological science in Italian hospital settings.