[Nursing human resources from the perspective of workforce: an analysis of the scientific production]

The focus of this research is on human resources in nursing, particularly from the perspective of workforce. The objectives are to identify the national scientific production on human resources in nursing, analyze particularly those publications about workforce in nursing, and give a historical perspective on the composition of nursing workforce and the distribution of nursing workers throughout the country. In this bibliographic research LILACS, PeriEnf, DEDALUS, BDENF, PAHO, MS, ADSAUDE, ENSP, FSP, TEXTOC and SIDORH's databases were consulted, as well as CEPEn's catalogues, from 1958 to 2001. 469 publications were identified: 345 (73,6%) utilized human resources in nursing as a descriptor, while 79 (16,8%) and 45 (9,6%) utilized, respectively, the keywords nursing workforce (FTE) and nursing work market. There is a higher concentration of scientific production in the second half of the 80's and throughout the 90's.