On Public Health, nurses can influence the care of the health needs of the population. The objective of this paper is to feature and understand the practices of nurses working at Health Basic Units. It is a qualitative research whereby semi-structured interviews were made with 15 nurses who work at Porto Alegre-Brasil. The treatment of the data was based on analysis of content of the thematic type. Outcomes indicate that the activities performed by nurses are influenced by the Health System and its limitations, especially the lack of nursing workers. Nurses are sought to solve problems that are not always related with their work, demonstrating the diversity of their practices. The conclusion is that the presence of nurses in the daily care and their articulating role contributes to change the realities of health.
community health nursing; public health nursing; nurse's role; health centers