A percepção do formando de enfermagem sobre a função gerencial do enfermeiro

The objective of the present study was to identify and analyze the perceptions of nursing graduates of a public university regarding the managerial role of nurses. This is a descriptive-qualitative study, the setting of which was a nursing undergraduate course of a public university located in northeastern Brazil. Data collection was performed using semi-structured interviews with 12 nursing undergraduates. Thematic analysis was the chosen technique for the data analysis, which generated three categories: nurses’ managerial role – contributing to efficient running of the service; care and management – two dichotomous practices; and teaching administration contents – too much theory and too little practice. In conclusion, the undergraduates’ perception regarding the nurses’ managerial role is based mostly on observing nurses at work rather than developing their own perceptions, and the subjects consider the role important but consider it to be disconnected from healthcare and distant from practice. Descriptors: Students, Nursing; Education, Nursing; Management.