The educational work of nurses in the family health strategy

Abstract

This study has the objective of identifying nurses' perspectives regarding health education and investigating how it is conceived, planned, executed and evaluated in the Family Health Strategy. This is a descriptive-exploratory study, utilizing a qualitative approach. Data were collected from 20 nurses within the 10th Regional Health Department of Paraná, through semi-structured interviews which took place in April of 2010, and then subjected to content analysis. Results demonstrate that while developing health education, nurses face many difficulties, which they mainly attributed to the absence of systematization and educational pedagogy regarding their academic education. In conclusion, given these obstacles, nurses require motivation and seek knowledge about planning, exercising and evaluating educational actions strategies, in addition to developing them with a view to improving life conditions and promoting health within the Family Health Strategy.