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.