Qualitative based study aimed to understand, from the perspective of a adult patient, the experience of staying in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), thus contributing to quality improvement of care and facilitate adaptation in such a stigmatized environment. Data were colleted in an ICU of a hospital in the southwest of São Paulo. Ten patients were interviewed and identified issues related to the previous perception of the ICU; differentiation with assistance in areas de hospitalization, technology and expert assistance, and environmental changes of habits in the ICU. Initially, the informants related to the ICU to the terminally ill and began to portray the industry as a place for treatment and recovery, thereby having a positive view of the intensive care environment.
Intensive care units; Hospitalization; Inpatients; Knowledge