Vozes de enfermeiras negras na encruzilhada: hierarquias de saberes e relações raciais na saúde

Abstract

This study used the theoretical-methodological framework of intersectional and decolonial feminisms. Conceiving the sociosexual and racial division of labor in the field of health care work in the SUS, added to discrimination/oppression of gender, race, class, professional training, etc., as phenomena to be problematized within the field of social psychology. The objective of this study was to analyze the perception of self-declared black nurses (assistants, technicians and higher-education nurses) in relation to hierarchies of knowledge and powers in health care work. Seven nursing professionals who work/worked in SUS hospital units within the State of Rio de Janeiro were interviewed from March 2020 to the present time. The snowball technique was used to capture these professionals through reference chains. As a method of data analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis was used, where the results were divided into four major analytical categories: 1. “The Doctor is the demigod!” and the “Doctor without a doctorate!”; 2. “Yes, there is hierarchy! The nurse is the leader and the technicians and assistants are under his supervision” 3. Hierarchies of knowledge-powers and racial relations in health; 4. Coloniality and Decoloniality Markers The results showed that according to their perception, the medical category still exerts a discursive hegemony, mainly in general hospitals and psychiatric hospitals. Despite this, some reported that this is something that is being deconstructed in some SUS care devices, such as teaching hospitals, for example. It was observed that the hierarchy of knowledge in nursing is something that exists, but with the purpose of systematizing and operationalizing teamwork. Nurses who exercise leadership/leadership reported experiences of discrimination related to gender, race, professional class, among others, and that they react to these through a posture of confrontation and combating racist and sexist structures. Regarding the work dynamics in the scenario of the covid-19 pandemic, these professionals had divergent perceptions, some said that the discursive hegemony of the doctor became even more present and others reported the formation of support networks among professionals to deal with the wear and tear and psychological suffering arising from work in this health context. There were reports marked by coloniality and decoloniality in the postures of some health professionals in this context, but these also brought experiences of forming networks and articulations to carry out interdisciplinary work. It was concluded that the research shows the importance of problematizing the socio-sexual and racial division of work in health and its implications, of giving protagonism to black women both as researchers and research participants, and also the importance of the performance of these women within the health care in the SUS, as propitiating subjects of a decolonial care.