The experience of nurse technicians (NTs) in the psychiatric ward is configured by different dimensions such as norms, social discourses, physical space, social practices and subjectivities. Participant observation and interviews were conducted with 9 NTs of a psychiatric ward in a public hospital in Chile. Analysis of the data showed that: a) the articulation of norms and physical space produced and sustained an inner/outer division with the hospital and its surroundings and within the ward. This divided the ward into two hospitals, one inhabited by psychiatrist and the other one by NTs b) The medical habitus and the physical space of the ward produced a physical and social segregation that placed NTs in anomalous outsider-insider position in the ward that compromised the value attributed to their work and hindered the coordination between NTs and psychiatrists; c) Discourses about medicine and psychiatry are intertwined with the concept of care. These discourses are interiorized by NTs as a scheme of perception, conception and actions. This scheme influenced the way NTs interact with patients and provided NTs with ways of managing and coping with the uncertain and dynamic environment of the psychiatric ward.I would like to thank all the people that made this dissertation possible. The financing agency in my country, CONICYT, that supported me through the Beca Chile Scholarship. My supervisor, Joseph Calabrese, whose help throughout the research and invaluable comments were indispensable for the development of the ideas expressed here. The Nurse Technicians of the Hospital, who let me be part of their work for a month and had the patience and confidence to share with me the experience of their work, their frustrations and motivations. My friend, Theo Cosaert, whose company made the uncertainty of the research bearable, and whose conversations helped me build and re-build the structure and arguments of this dissertation. Michelle Naessens and Sofía Gómez, whose corrections and comments where fundamental to be able to communicate my ideas with greater precision and clarity. My flatmates and friends that I met in London, for being my second family. My family, friends and my partner, Paula Garcés, for their loving support despite the distance. Claudia Collado and Laura González, whom taught me the value of love and care.