Work process in nursing: the relationship past, present and future

Abstract

It is the observation of the work process in Nursing, in health units of different complexity. The objective was to provide a theoretical basis for the practices identified by the authors and apprehend the nursing models existing in the services investigated. The data collected through an "analyzing flowchart of a model of care in a health service" proposed by Merhy (1997) and adapted by Araújo (1999), showed that the practice of Nursing is determined socially and historically by the existing models, with the predominance of actions supplementing the medical act.