Bedside nurses' care model: challenges and perspectives for an innovative practice

To understand the practice of nurses in the context of the care model at the bedside of the patient in an Intensive Care Unit, in the light of the ethics of virtue.

Qualitative research, carried out in an Intensive Care Unit of a University Hospital MG/Brazil. Data were collected in February 2016 through a semi-structured interview applied to the 12 nurses who worked at the unit. The data were submitted to Thematic Content Analysis.

The "bedside" care model encourages innovative practice, (re)directing nurses in the search for their telos, patient care, overcoming the fragmentation of nursing care and reconfiguring professional identity. However, the organization of the model in the scenario raised challenges related to the recognition of nurses by the multi-professional team, generating identity ruptures.

The adopted bedside model interferes in the nurses' relationship with care, bringing together professional and patient, enhancing innovative and excellent practice.