This study focuses on management issues in public health services and attempts to identify elements of nursing managerial work in the local Public Health Care system of Goiânia-GO, Brazil. This exploratory, descriptive and quantitative study was carried out between 2006 and 2007. A structured interview was used for data collection and was composed of 44 service-manager nurses. A database was built, using the Epi-Info Software 3.3.2. The data was submitted to a coding process and analyzed through measuring simple frequencies similarity categorization. The results point out aspects which strengthen nursing managerial actions and make them more visible, as well as show the fragilities of managerial work in Brazilian Public Health Care. The contribution of these nurse managers meant a great deal in order that formal nursing education may be rethought by universities and managers.
Health management; Public health nursing; Primary health care; Nursing
