Published January 9, 2020
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Masters Thesis
Open
Critical Care Challenges in the Global South: An Ethnographic Perspective from Argentina
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Abstract
Objective: Provide a qualitative study of the experiences and challenges of intensivists providing care in public ICUs in a Middle-Income country like Argentina.Methods: Research was conducted during 15 months in two Intensive Care Units in two public hospitals in the periphery of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The data was collected through deep-immersion participant observation, semi-structured interviewing, literature review, and elicitation of professional diaries from physicians.Results: Intensivists in the study report experiencing various challenges in their profession, including: stressful clinical scenarios; difficult management of the relationship with patient family members, engaging in bioethical and end-of-life discussions and decisions; infrastructural constraints such as lack of resources, budget cuts and austerity measures, low wages, and broader economic uncertainty.Discussion: The importance of socio-cultural and political economic-context is often placed as a background in many studies that examine the ICU as a working environment. Qualitative and ethnography studies can shed light on how specific conditions affect the work of critical care professionals, thus adding nuance and depth to quantitative or survey studies on workplace satisfaction. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ICUs have been put under extreme strain all over the world, albeit differently. Qualitative perspectives are and will be especially important calls for more qualitative studies that examine both the importance of context and the experiences of intensive care professionals at this trying time.Files
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2020-01-09When the item was originally created.