Abstract

MELO, Cristina Maria Meira de  and  SANTOS, Tatiane Araújo dos. Nurse's political participation in municipal Public Health Care System management. Texto contexto - enferm. [online]. 2007, vol.16, n.3, pp. 426-432. ISSN 0104-0707.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0104-07072007000300007.

This case study analyzes nurses' political participation in shared management in the Brazilian Public Health Care System (Sistema Único de Saúde). The researchers' initial statement is that the nurse has a relevant political participation in local health system management. From that we identify the nurse's conception about political participation and the space in which participation is exercised. Based on pre-defined categories, we utilize the thematic analysis technique to interpret how this political participation in health care management occurs. We adopted a qualitative, exploratory approach and the data was collected using semi-structured interviews as well as observation of nurses in different positions in a local, consolidated, health care management system in a municipality in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The results indicate the nurses' restricted view about their political role in health care management; their incipient political participation; and the low value placed upon this kind of participation, despite the fact they are occupying different, relevant, and political-technical functions in the local public health care system.

Keywords : Politics; Single Health System; Nursing.