This study aims to investigate the forms of domination which are present in the daily work of hospital nurses and the way they handle these occurences, as well as the types of mediating processes which occur within relationships which produce confrontation and the way these help them to comprehend and transform their own work.. A qualitative methodology was used which included indepth interviews with 15 nurses, as well as analysis of official documents from both the Regional Council of Nurses and the Nurses' Union from the state of Ceará. The study concluded that forms of domination not only exist but also contribute to the reproduction of unequal relationships on the job, and that these relationships occur between nurses and doctors, between peers and between nurses and auxilliary personnel. Responding to this situation, nurses have been utilizing individual and informal resistance mechanisms and strategies, but also formal and collective resistence strategies have been used, these latter less frequently.
nurses; work; resistence; profession