Characterization of research groups in nursing education in the state of são paulo¹

Caracterización de los grupos de investigación en educación en enfermería de são paulo

Abstracts

The aim of this documentary, quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study was to characterize research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo and the conformity of its researchers and scientific works. Data were collected in Directory Groups of CNPq, in the 2008 census and in the Lattes platform. São Paulo has 12 Research Groups in Nursing Education, with 94 researchers, of which 91.5% are research fellows, or have a Ph.D or a master's degree. These groups have published 875 scientific articles, 62 books, 191 book chapters and 96 full papers in event annals. A total of 88.8% of scientific articles were published in Brazilian journals with Qualis/CAPES A2. São Paulo stands out in the Brazilian setting for having the largest number of research groups, qualified researchers and high-quality publications. These facts are directly related to high federal and state investments.

Research groups; Nursing education; Financial resources

Esta investigación documental y cuantitativo exploratorio y descriptivo. Tiene como objetivo caracterizar los grupos de investigación en educación en enfermería en el Estado de São Paulo, la conformación de sus investigadores y las producciones científicas. Los datos fueron recolectados en los grupos del Directorio del Censo de CNPq 2008 y en el curriculun lattes. São Paulo cuenta con 12 Grupos de Investigación en Educación en Enfermería con 94 investigadores, 91,5% tiene titulación post-doctoral, doctorado o maestría. En total, los grupos en este estado tienen 875 artículos científicos, 62 libros, 191 capítulos de libros y 96 artículos completos en actas de congresos. Se encontró que el 88,8% de los artículos científicos fueron publicados en revistas con Qualis/CAPES A2. São Paulo se destaca por poseer una elevada producción científica brasileña en comparación con otras regiones. Estos hechos están relacionados con la alta inversión que recibe a través de los recursos federales y estatales.

Grupos de investigación; Educación en enfermería; Recursos financieros

Pesquisa documental, exploratório-descritiva, de natureza quantitativa. Teve como objetivo caracterizar os grupos de pesquisa em educação em enfermagem no Estado de São Paulo, a conformação dos seus pesquisadores e as produções científicas. A coleta de dados ocorreu no Diretório de Grupos do CNPq, no Censo 2008, e nos Currículos Lattes. São Paulo possui 12 Grupos de Pesquisa em Educação em Enfermagem com 94 pesquisadores, sendo que 91,5% possuem titulação de pós-doutorado, doutorado ou mestrado. No total, os grupos deste estado apresentam 875 artigos científicos, 62 livros, 191 capítulos de livros e 96 trabalhos completos em anais de eventos. Verificou-se que 88,8% dos artigos científicos foram publicados em periódicos brasileiros com Qualis/CAPES A2. São Paulo destaca-se no cenário brasileiro por possuir elevada produção científica em relação às demais regiões. Estes fatos estão relacionados ao alto investimento que o mesmo recebe por meio dos recursos federais e estaduais.

Grupos de pesquisa; Educação em enfermagem; Recursos financeiros

INTRODUCTION

The creation and consolidation of graduate programs (GPs) in Brazil was based on the National Plans for Graduate Programs. Thus, each plan was responsible for the evolution of graduate programs in Brazil: I- qualification of the human resources of higher education institutions (HEIs), II- concern over quality and performance, III- the importance of integrating and improving scientific and technological research, IV- emphasis on internationalization, flexibility of graduate programs and improvement of evaluation modes, and V- introduction of strategic induction and improvement of qualitative evaluation within graduation. The 2011-2020 plan intends to pursue previous plans, favoring an integration between teaching and society, emphasizing internationalization and bringing together new policies, strategies and actions in order to achieve educational, economical, scientific and technological development.¹

In light of this, GPs represent a consolidated part of the Brazilian education, which, over the past decades, has decisively contributed to qualify human resources and to consolidate education in the country. In the health sphere, graduate programs in nursing have grown significantly, and this encourages researches and scientific output.² GPs make the consolidation of scientific basis possible, as well as the qualification of professionals that are able to meet the social needs and bring the solution to national and regional problems, thanks to the knowledge acquired in their practice.³

Historically, Brazil is very unequal throughout its different regions in terms of infrastructure, qualified board of professors and resources for the development of research within the GPs. They were initially implemented in universities from the south and southeast regions, concentrating the support to research and, consequently, ensuring scientific output.⁴

Scientific output in nursing is currently improved with the development of researches that contribute to knowledge and practice in different health fields. In this sense, specialized scientific journals are important means of dissemination and give greater credibility and recognition to these researches.⁵

Studies have shown the unequal distribution of scientific output in nursing education within the different geographical areas of Brazil.^{6 - 8} This imbalance is also seen in the number and qualification of researchers as well as in the concentration of GPs (masters and doctoral degrees) in the southeast (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo). Within this region, there is a concentration of scientific output in São Paulo, which reflects the concentration of economic indicators as well. This element suggests that favorable economic indicators along with significant financial support in science and technology ensure an increased development of scientific output, both at national and international levels.

In this sense, the aim of this study was to characterize research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo, in terms of quantity of research groups, researchers and the respective output, relating these data to the policy of investments in science and technology in Brazil. This characterization is important and necessary for São Paulo, since the other Brazilian regions have already been surveyed in other studies, as mentioned before, but also because of the prominent position of this region in Brazil.

METHOD

This is a documentary, quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study. Data were collected from the 2008 census by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, as per its acronym in Portuguese), according to the following steps: access to CNPq website, then to the Database & Statistics, then Research Groups - Census, and finally the tabular data. The following variables were chosen: area of activity, State, institution and then "Nursing" was selected. Data collection was carried out in January, 2011.

From this search, it was possible to picture the nursing research groups in Brazil and draw out the following elements: total number of nursing research groups; identification of Research Groups in Nursing Education (RGNEs), as the word "education" had to appear in the group name (or a synonym, such as teaching/qualification). In regards to researchers, data on quantity, qualification, degree and professional activity were collected.

After these data were obtained, another search on the scientific output by researchers from RGNE was carried out, in the Lattes database from CNPq, between 2004 and 2010.

In order to be relevant, the results had to meet some scientific output indicators, as considered by the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES, as per its acronym in Portuguese), which are: scientific articles, books, chapters of books and complete works from event annals.

All the works were stored in libraries and organized by year of publishing and according to the originating HEI, with the help of the bibliographic management software Endnote(r). It is worth noting that duplicate works were excluded in cases of multi authorship.

Besides the quantitative distribution of scientific articles produced, the qualification of the journals in which these articles were published was also assessed, Qualis/CAPES (2009), corresponding to the 2008 census. This evaluation usually takes place annually, and the publications were divided into categories according to their quality, namely: A1, A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and C, in which A1 has the greater quality and, C, the lowest.

Results were analyzed with descriptive statistics and discussed with the help of relevant literature. Since the data collected are public domain, the study did not need to be submitted and analyzed by a Human Research Ethics Committee. Nevertheless, ethical rules for analysis and dissemination of information were respected.

RESULTS

A total of 373 nursing research groups are currently registered in the CNPq - 2008 Census directory (CNPQ, 2008). Concerning the topic "Nursing Education", 51 nursing research groups were found, 21 being in the southeast region. It is important to note that the RGNE were identified by the words "education/teaching/qualification" as part of the group name, and each research group is focused on "nursing education", and can perform a search of different topics, as seen in their title (Table 1).

There are 12 RGNEs in the state of São Paulo, which makes it the most representative state, with 23.5% of the RGNEs in Brazil. These groups are related to six HEIs, with eight of them being held in public state HEIs and four in private HEIs (Table 1).

Table 1
Research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo, 2008 census, CNPq, Brazil

Research group in nursing education	Higher Education Institution (HEI)	Year of creation
Assessment of teaching and health care practices	University of São Paulo, School of Nursing	1996
Bioethics and management: teaching and health care	University of São Paulo, School of Nursing	1997
Center of studies and research on psychosocial aspects of health management and teaching	University of São Paulo, School of Nursing	1997
Educational and care models in nursing	University of São Paulo, School of Nursing	2004
Research group in nursing/health education	University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing	2008
Center of studies, teaching and research of the school primary health care program	University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing	1985
Center of teaching and research in interpersonal relations	University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing	1992
Research group in nursing education	Marília Medical School	2003
Education and career guidance in health	São José do Rio Preto Medical School	2002
Health care in nursing and health education for the adult, the elderly and the worker	University of Guarulhos	2005
Research and study group in nursing and health care teaching and practices	State University of Campinas	2008
Quality of health care and education for women and newborns	Oeste Paulista University	2006

• ^Source
  : 2008 Census, CNPq

There are 94 researchers registered in RGNE in the state of São Paulo. Of this total, 84 come from nursing and 10 are from other fields such as medicine, pedagogy, social services, physics and statistics. Concerning their qualification, four researchers have a Ph.D., 16 have a master's degree, four are boarded-certified and three are undergraduates or still students. It is worth mentioning that 10 researchers have degrees in the field of education. Regarding their activity, 74 are only teachers, 11 work only in health care, seven work in both teaching and health care and two are nursing scholars. It is important to note that the search was performed in the 2008 census by the CNPq, and the database is completed with updated information about the members of the research groups.

Scientific output from the RGNE of the state of São Paulo, between 2004 and 2010, are shown in table 2 as follows:

Table 2
Scientific output of research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo, according to Lattes platform/CNPq, Brazil, 2011

Origin/year	Scientific articles	Books	Book chapters	Complete workspublished in annals
2004	98	05	10	14
2005	105	04	29	18
2006	109	06	27	16
2007	120	04	29	11
2008	122	26	35	16
2009	170	06	20	12
2010	108	11	41	09
Total	832	62	191	96

In this study, it was decided to present an overview of the qualification of the journals in which the articles were published, as they currently represent an important means of dissemination of scientific output in the field (Table 3).

Table 3
Scientific articles of research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo, according to Qualis/CAPES in the nursing field, 2004-2010, Lattes platform/CNPq, Brazil, 2011

Qualis/CAPES	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	Total
A1	03	02	02	--	04	05	01	17
A2	31	32	39	45	41	61	25	268
B1	19	27	18	28	18	32	23	165
B2	11	09	15	12	18	18	18	101
B3	19	20	17	16	27	21	14	134
B4	03	01	04	06	02	13	12	41
B5	08	05	09	11	07	15	07	62
C	--	01	--	--	--	--	01	02
Not available*	04	08	05	02	05	05	07	36
Total	98	105	109	120	122	170	108	832

• ^*
  Not available in the Qualis/CAPES list

It is worth noting that out of the articles written by RGNE in the state of São Paulo, 29.32% were published in high-impact journals (A2 Internacional, QUALIS/CAPES, 2009). Among them, 244 represent Brazilian journals specialized in nursing, divided into four scientific journals, which are: Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem (Latin American Journal of Nursing), Revista Escola Enfermagem USP (REEUSP) and Acta Paulista de Enfermagem, all published in the state of São Paulo, and Texto & Contexto Enfermagem, published in the state of Santa Catarina (Table 4).

Table 4
Scientific output of research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo, according to Qualis A2 journal, 2004-2010. Qualis Periódicos-Enfermagem CAPES, Brazil, 2009

Journal	Qualis/CAPES A2 (n)
Latin American Journal of Nursing	108
Revista Escola Enfermagem USP	75
Acta Paulista de Enfermagem	43
Texto & Contexto Enfermagem	18
Total	244

DISCUSSION

In the Brazilian context, the state of São Paulo is an important setting for the development of scientific and technological research in many fields, including nursing, being the place where a great number of scientific works are published in high-impact journals.

One of the reasons for this fact is the historical background of undergraduate nursing courses. There are currently 952 undergraduate nursing courses offered in Brazil. Among them, 181 are located in the state of São Paulo, and 11 belong to public HEIs (state or private) and 70 belong to private HEIs.⁹

Another important aspect concerns the number of GPs. In 2011, there were 51 programs running in Brazil, and 24 of them were located in the southeast region. There are 12 GPs in São Paulo, making it the state with the largest number of programs in the country. This setting also contributes to the state's scientific and technological development, and favors an actual demand for qualified services.¹⁰

The first undergraduate nursing course in the state was established in 1942, known as University of São Paulo (USP) School of Nursing, and stands out, in the context of this study, for having 4 RGNEs and 36 researchers, 20 of which have a Ph.D. This school is largely responsible for the production of knowledge, through undergraduate, graduate (specialization, masters, Ph.D.) and extension courses.¹¹

Another school of nursing that stands out is the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing (EERP/USP), founded in 1951 and annexed to the Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo (FMRP/USP). EERP/USP has three RGNEs and 25 researchers, 23 of which have a Ph.D. Since 1988, EERP/USP has been appointed as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Research Development, which acknowledges its expertise in scientific output and learning, research and extension programs, and enhances national and international networks.¹²

Another point to highlight is the fact that both schools manage their financial supports, thus having a unique infrastructure. Thanks to their relationship with governmental and non-governmental institutions, consultancy and partnerships, these schools offer a broad range of activities focused on teaching, researches and public services. Both the School of Nursing of São Paulo and the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing offer a broad range of fellowships, from undergraduate to graduate courses, as described here: Scientific Initiation Program of the University of São Paulo (PICUSP), Institutional Program of Scientific Initiation Fellowship for Technological Development and Innovation (PIBIT), Technical Training Fellowship, Masters Fellowships, Ph.D. Fellowships, Lunch Grants, and Short-term Internships. These financial supports to research given to graduate students are obtained from CAPES, CNPq and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, as per its acronym in Portuguese).^{11 - 12}

One of the critical aspects for the development of the RGNE are the investments made by public or private promotion agencies. FAPESP is one of the main public agencies responsible for promoting and funding technological and scientific researches, providing exchanges and dissemination of the science and technology produced in São Paulo. This agency was established in 1960 and enjoys autonomy provided by law, as established in the state constitution of 1947.

FAPESP has an annual budget of 1% of the state's tax revenues, and support to research comes through fellowships, funding and capital, to all fields of knowledge. These fellowships are available to undergraduate and graduate students, and grants can be used by researchers who have a Ph.D. and by HEIs from the state of São Paulo. The fellowships and grants can be obtained through the following funding lines: regular line, special programs and technological innovation programs. Since 1989, FAPESP has been receiving these resources on a monthly basis, and they are strictly passed on to the State Treasury. This makes research funding lines more stable and, consequently, induces the creation of research areas in order to promote its development within the state.¹³

In 2010, FAPESP funded a total of 24 projects in nursing, with 15 of them being from the University of São Paulo, School of Nursing. These projects were originated from the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing, the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR) and the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP).¹³

It is worth noting that some researches have been carried out on the scientific output of research groups in nursing education in Brazil. Between 1995 and 2008, the south region produced 1437 scientific articles.⁶ During the same period, the north, northeast and central west regions produced a total of 455 scientific articles,⁷ and the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais produced 696 articles between 1995 and 2009.⁸

Therefore, it is possible to observe that research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo have a high scientific output and stand out from groups of other Brazilian regions,^{6 - 8} and this production has been published in high-impact journals, which are mainly state-run journals. These factors show a concentration of the groups and indicate that the dissemination and socialization of knowledge are also concentrated.

The high output and concentrated qualification found in the RGNE in the state of São Paulo is certainly directly related to the investments made in science and technology, through programs, resources, project funding and fellowships offered by both the federal government (CAPES and CNPq) and the state government (FAPESP).

Statistics show that, in 2010, CNPq invested R$ 970,361,304.00 in science and technology fellowships for the main fields of knowledge. It appears that, of this amount, 9.45% were spent in the main health sciences, and out of this percentage, 8.58% correspond to nursing. Of total investments, 59.75% were assigned to the southeast region, 20.4% to the northeast, 14.73% to the south, 4.4% to central west and 0.72% to the north. The state of São Paulo, in particular, received R$ 3,853,592.00, the equivalent to 48.99% of the total nursing fellowships, being thus the state which received the greatest part of resources.¹⁴

The high concentration of public investment in regions with higher number of scholars and the highest gross national product (GNP) is remarkable. Therefore, qualified human resources and good infrastructure are found in these places.¹⁵

In conclusion, high investments contribute to and result in high output. The state of São Paulo stands out for having the highest number of undergraduate and graduate courses in nursing, receiving a significant part of resources, having some of the best nursing scientific journals, highly skilled researchers and the highest output when compared to the other Brazilian regions. These data show that the investments made in science and technology result in increased scientific output.

The major challenge is to overcome regional inequalities so that all Brazilian regions have the same qualification, funding and exchange opportunities, among others.

One of the strategies would be to shift the investments in a way that all regions could have the same resources to carry out researches and publish material, which is a goal of the federal government to launch public notices fostering investments in areas of priority, known as inducing policies. Therefore, all public notices from CAPES and CNPq assign 30% of funds to north and northeast regions in order to foster and favor their development, as well as rectify regional inequalities. These inducing policies show that the decentralization of investments can also balance the development and scientific output within the different regions of the country.

To make this change of setting possible, the extension of investments for all regions is essential, so that research development in nursing can be achieved. Hence, the joint work of different government levels is crucial.¹⁸ It is essential to provide these asymmetric regions with better conditions through consolidation of RGNE; thus making incentives necessary through resources, expansion of interinstitutional masters and Ph.D. programs (MINTER and DINTER, as per their acronyms in Portuguese) between regions, development of research projects between regions, increase of publications in national and international journals, possibility of exchanges between national regions and with international institutions, and also through fellowships, grants, participation in events, strengthening of research groups with the aid of scholars, students and nurses.¹⁶

CONCLUSIONS

Research groups in nursing education in the state of São Paulo have a high scientific output and stand out among the other regions of the country as they benefit from a greater part of investments. Therefore, the importance of investments in science and technology is clear, as well as the impact they have on scientific output and the strengthening and consolidation of a profession.

In order to increase knowledge production within the field of nursing in Brazil, it is necessary to create induction strategies in accordance with public policies; so that regional inequalities can be overcome, development of science and technology are fostered, as well as human resources qualification, fellowship opportunities and publication of works in an equal manner, by researchers from all regions, with their own particularities, strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it is necessary to acknowledge the possible gaps related to nursing knowledge as well as its application in professional practice

REFERENCES

• ¹
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• ⁸
  Gomes DC, Backes VMS, Lino MM, Canever BP, Ferraz F, Schveitzer MC. Produção científica em educação em enfermagem: grupos de pesquisa Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Rev Gaúcha Enferm. 2011 Jun; 32 (2):330-7.
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• ¹¹
  Universidade de São Paulo. Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade de São Paulo. [página na Internet]. São Paulo (SP): EE/USP, 2011. [acesso 2011 Ago 18]. Disponível em: http://www.ee.usp.br/eeusp/historico.asp
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• 1
  This study is part of the results obtained with the essay entitled - Produção do conhecimento dos grupos de pesquisa em educação e m enfermagem do Estado de São Paulo, submitted to the Graduate Program in Nursing (PEN, as per its acronym in Portuguese) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in 2011.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Jan-Mar 2014

History

• Received
  06 Dec 2011
• Accepted
  25 Aug 2012