Abstract

SILVA, Kênia Lara; SENA, Roseni Rosângela de; TAVARES, Tatiana Silva  and  WAN DER MAAS, Lucas. Expansion of Undergraduate Nursing and the labor market: reproducing inequalities?. Rev. bras. enferm. [online]. 2012, vol.65, n.3, pp. 406-413. ISSN 0034-7167.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-71672012000300003.

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the increase in the number of degree courses in nursing and the nursing job market. It is a descriptive exploratory study with a quantitative approach, which used data on Undergraduate Nursing courses, supply of nurses, connection with health facilities, and formal jobs in nursing in the state of Minas Gerais. The evolution of Undergraduate Nursing courses reveals a supply and demand decline in recent years. Such context is determined by the nurse's labor market being influenced by the contradiction of a professional quantitative surplus, particularly in the state's less developed areas, as opposed to a low percentage of nurses to care for the population's health. These characteristics of the nursing labor market reproduce inequalities furthermore aspects such as the regulation of nursing education and the creation of new jobs need to be discussed further.

Keywords : Nursing; Education; Labor Market.