Expansion of undergraduate courses in nursing: dilemmas and contradictions facing the labor market

• Published in: Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 1219 - 1218
• Main Authors: Silva, Kênia Lara, de Sena, Roseni Rosângela, Grillo, Maria José Cabral, Gandra, Elen Cristiane, da Silveira, Marília Rezende
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem 01-10-2013; SciELO
• Subjects: Atencion Primaria de Salud; Brazil; Educacion en enfermeria; Education, Nursing - organization & administration; Health Care Sector; Instituciones de Ensenanza Superior; Mercado de trabajo; NURSING; Nursing - manpower; Brazil; Instituciones de Ensenanza Superior; Educacao em enfermagem; Mercado de trabalho; Atencao Primaria a Saude; Educacion en enfermeria; Mercado de trabajo; Instituicoes de Ensino Superior; Atencion Primaria de Salud
• ISSN: 0080-6234; 1980-220X; 0080-6234
• DOI: 10.1590/S0080-623420130000500028

We sought to analyze, from the perspective of professors and students, the reasons and consequences of the expansion of undergraduate courses in nursing, discussing the dilemmas and the contradictions confronting the labor market. It was a qualitative study with data obtained from focus groups, conducted in 18 undergraduate nursing courses in the state of Minas Gerais, during the period of February to October of 2011. The narratives were submitted to critical discourse analysis. The results indicated that the education of the nurse was permeated by insecurity as to the future integration into the labor market. The insecurity translates into dilemmas that referred to employability and the precariousness of the working conditions. In this context, employment in the family health strategy emerges as a mirage. One glimpses the need for a political agenda with the purpose of discussion about education, the labor market and the determinants of these processes.