This article presents an integrative review about studies that address the relationships between health professionals and users in health care practices. It aimed to identify aspects that were researched on the daily life of the services concerning such relationships. Data were collected from the Lilacs and Pubmed databases based on these descriptors: user embracement; professionalfamily relations; professionalpatient relations; humanization of the care; and the bonding word associated to the Single Health System descriptor. Two hundred and ninety studies, published from 1990 to 2010, were selected. Through thematic analyses, five meaning cores were created: the relevance of the confidence in the professionaluser relationship; feelings and senses in the health care practice; the importance of communications in health care services; ways to organize health care practices and (de)colonialism. It was found that relationships established in health care practices have a transformative dimension. However, the challenge to humanize health care services remains. Nursing stands out in the production of knowledge on such theme.
nursing; user embracement; humanization of assistance; Single Health System