Sources of exhaustion among hospital conventional radiology technicians in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

BACKGROUND

Health care workers, including radiology technicians, are exposed to work burdens liable to cause exhaustion.

OBJECTIVE

To describe sources of exhaustion within the work process of technicians at a hospital department of conventional radiology in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

METHODS

Qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study in which data were collected from 12 radiology technicians by means of semi-structured interviews. The data were subjected to thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three sources of exhaustion stood out: musculoskeletal, represented by shoulder and back pain, mental, corresponding to stress and emotional and psychological overload, and respiratory, manifested as colds, pneumonia and rhinitis.

CONCLUSION

The present study makes visible sources of exhaustion within the work process of radiology technicians, which are similar to those that affect other categories of health care workers.