[The CIPESC-Brazil Project: characterization of nursing in Porto Alegre]

This paper was written using data collected to characterize the labor force of nursing and its developed practices on a major project called "Project of Classification of Nursing Practices in Collective Health in Brazil". The study took place at the Sanitary Districts V and VI of Porto Alegre. The data was collected in 1998, through the application of two forms. They were completed by 28 nurses, 6 nursing technicians, and 101 nursing aids. The results show that nurses develop administrative activities, while nursing technicians and nursing aids support medical actions, those activities being considered insufficient to the development of the Nursing Practice in Collective Health.