Introduction:

In Brazil, neonatal mortality is alarming, although adequate intensive cares have changed the situation, with emphasis on nursing care.

Objective:

To assess nursing care in the neonatal intensive care unit from the perspective of nurses.

Methods:

Descriptive and qualitative field study carried out, in 2019, with six nurses from the intensive care unit of a regional hospital in Piauí, using a semistructured interview. The data were processed and analyzed using the IRAMUTEQ software, and discussed based on the content analysis of the participants' speeches using the theory of Dorothy Johnson.

Results:

The nurses’ proximity to newborn’s suffering was found, together with the bond established with the family, the physical fatigue related to the overload of weekly working hours, the stress caused by the lack of materials, and the intense need for improvisation. In addition, the contexts that characterize affiliation/dependency, as well as the intake and elimination systems were observed. Therefore, nursing care can be viewed from the perspective of looking at systems in order to balance them, for the health of the newborn.

Conclusion:

The nurse, within the scope of skills of the provided care, experiences, in practice, care directed to the newborn’s recovery. However, this care faces challenges related to the environment and to affective interpersonal relationships.

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