Abstract

LEYVA-MORAL, Juan M.. Silence among health care professionals. Index Enferm [online]. 2008, vol.17, n.1, pp.34-38. ISSN 1699-5988.

Justification: silence in the workplace is associated with many causes, such as fear, deattachement and cooperation. Aim: to explore the meaning of silence among the healthcare professionals. Methodology: qualitative stuyd based on Grounded Theory. Semi-structured interviews were used as well as a questionnaire with open ended questions. Findings: three main domains emerge from the data anlysis: a) Silence as a double-sided argument, b) prevention of future consequences; c) I don’t keep silent! Conclusion: silence within the workplace generates negative feelings at an individual level, such as low self-steem, frustration or anger. In a grupal level, silence can produce higher cohesión. However, production quality can result diminished since many participants describe their attitude toward conflictive situations as "following the tide".