We investigated how mental health nursing care occurs through the discourse of faculty teaching psychiatric and/or mental health nursing contents in the four oldest nursing undergraduate courses in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, one of which is public, and the other three, private. Data collection was performed between March and May of 2010. This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study. Data were collected in discussion groups, and analyzed according to the hermeneutic-dialectic perspective. The results showed that the faculty's discourses lacked the paradigm of psychosocial care and teaching based on psychopathology. In conclusion, teaching mental health nursing requires a theoretical framework based on paradigms consistent with the local situation and the Unified Health System.
Teaching; Care; Nursing; Mental health
