This is an essay about the nursing working process in mental health. Several conceptions have substantiated the psychiatric assistance, as well as the proposals of reorientation of those practices; nursing practices have been related to that process. The professionals' standpoint determines the choice of a tendency and the understanding of the health-illness process. The need of reviewing the nursing working object, as well as its practice in view of the transformations in mental health assistance, has pointed towards new professional attitudes regarding the person with psychic disorders, as well as towards the acquisition of knowledge besides that one obtained at college courses.
Mental Health; Nursing assistance