This study examines the transformations that occurred in the work, life and especially in the way of thinking and acting of nursing attendants after their professional qualification through the Projeto Larga Escala (PLE). Subjects were attendants who qualified as nursing auxiliaries through the PLE, which was conducted by the Regional Health Administration - 5 (São Paulo city), from 1990 to 1992. The study used life stories as a strategy to apprehend reality, and work and qualification were used as analytical categories. The analysis allowed us to recognize the possibilities and limitations of the training process that guaranteed the attendants with: promotion to a professional category and conquest of some rights; knowledge improvement and care humanization. The qualification process seems to have some power to modify the quality of health care, although it does not seem capable to promote changes in the health care model.
education, nursing; health manpower; health policy; in-service training