Postgraduate programs in nursing in Brazil: challenges and prospects

EDITORIAL

Postgraduate programs in nursing in Brazil: challenges and prospects

Alacoque Lorenzini Erdmann^I; Josicelia Dumêt Fernandes^II

^IProfª. Titular da UFSC e PQ 1A/CNPq, Coordenadora da Área da Enfermagem na Capes 2008-2010. Florianópolis-SC, Brasil. Email: [e-mail]

^IIProfª. Titular da UFBA e PQ 1C/CNPq, Coordenadora Adjunta da Área da Enfermagem na Capes 2008-2010. Salvador-BA, Brasil. Email: [e-mail]

One of the major challenges for nursing in Brazil is to accelerate the advancement of technology and increase the quality of its innovations. This depends greatly on the expertise and knowledge produced by the postgraduate programs in nursing. Because such knowledge - of quality and relevance - will be the one to contribute to the consolidation of our science.

In the meantime, we have to make compromises to produce, test and implement new organizational experiences and advanced technologies while recording them, and patenting them so as to disseminate and use them in the nursing practice. However, to be able to increase the transmission of the scientific knowledge produced especially by the graduate programs in nursing requires that effective policies and strategies be established.

It is necessary to accelerate the production of advanced technologies for nursing. Innovation should aid better nursing care practices, enabling them to become social goods, a wealth relevant to economic and social sustainability.

The significant number of doctorates in nursing in our country contributes to this progress. In a brief time, despite some of the courses being fairly new, there should certainly be a noticeable impact on our society.

This matter was at the core of the discussion held on November 4, 2010, at the meeting of the field of nursing, during the IV National Meeting of Postgraduate Studies in the Health Sciences. It was then reported at the plenary session held on November 5, 2010. Thus, we consider that the subject of this editorial, relevant at this time, permits us to show the guidelines recorded in the document prepared by the participants of the meeting mentioned above.

Nursing is a field of scientific, technological and innovative knowledge and a relevant social discipline. It is committed to public health policies and related to the Public Health System (SUS) that promotes quality of life through excellent nursing care. Nursing is characterized as a discipline interrelated with various fields of knowledge.

For nursing to advance as a science, technology and innovation, the following core policies for teaching, research and technological innovation in accordance with the following question: "How is health innovation in the nursing postgraduate studies achieved?"

- Promote the transfer of knowledge from nursing science to society in tune with public policies, contributing to the consolidation of the SUS system.

- Encourage the creation of environments that develop technology and models of nursing care and public health, with strategies for sustainability and entrepreneurship.

- Invest in the creation of indicators of economic and social impact, technology and innovation in nursing and public health.

- Promote the creation of networks for innovation and the development of technology in nursing and public health to ensure effective and excellent nursing care.

- Recommend to the developmental agencies specific projects of technology and innovation in nursing care, management, education and public health, in accordance with the system and policies of the SUS.

- Propose the inclusion of technology in nursing care in the Agenda of Priorities for Research.

- Improve the policies of expansion and articulation for the postgraduate programs for nurses and strive for excellence in the formation of masters and doctors that act in the fields that promote the advancement of science, technology and innovation in nursing and public health, including the Professional Masters, as strategies for qualification of the professionals dedicated to service with the implementation of technology showing evidence of care.

The referrals contained in the document prepared by the division of the field of nursing express the political momentum to advance science, technology and innovation in our country which has a bearing on the evolution of the field of nursing, its mission and the challenges it faces: to promote and consolidate the scientific, technological and innovative nursing knowledge, through the development of human resources of excellence in all academic levels - masters, professional masters, doctorate and post-doctoral internships. With the purpose of promoting a society that offers a better quality of life, promotes health and the full exercise of citizenship, diversity and free debate of ideas must be respected. Our perspectives can be promising if we stand firm in our commitment to create and enforce policies that achieve excellence in the formation of postgraduate programs for the nurses of Brazil.

We hope that the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Anna Nery School of Nursing continues to participate in this policy as a means to support and encourage our researchers to promote this development meant to strengthen nursing, especially the Brazilian nursing.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  04 Mar 2011
• Date of issue
  Mar 2011