[The regulation of labor relations and human resources management in nursing]

This paper is aimed at discoursing on the regulation of labor relations in Nursing and at giving subsidies to the nurse's managerial practice concerning the rights and obligations of employees and employers based on the Brazilian Labor Law and the Federal Constitution. It emphasizes some regulations that are not clear enough and give rise to doubts and conflicts on the nurse's daily professional activities, such as working hours, resting periods in and between journeys, extra pay for overtime work, weekly paid rest and changes in work schedule. The adequacy of nursing practice to legal rules should allow nurses to get more knowledge, resulting in more confidence and safer actions. By having professional and patient's rights respected, occasional juridical problems inherent to labor rights and obligations will be reduced.