Limit-situations in child health care practices: challenges to the empowerment of nurses

To analyze the limit-situations experienced by nurses in child health care practices, from the perspective of empowerment in health promotion.

This is a qualitative approach Participatory Action Research, supported by Paulo Freire's Research Itinerary, developed through Culture Circles, consisting of three stages: thematic investigation, coding and decoding and critical unveiling. 13 Culture Circles were held with nurses from the Family Health Strategy of five Basic Health Units in the city of Manaus, Amazonas.

A total of 16 nurses participated and 20 generating themes emerged from the Culture Circles, six of which were considered limit-situations by the participants: accumulation of activities; difficulty monitoring and following-up children; work focused on productivity; lack of training; limited human resources; difficulty in reception.

The study contributed to strengthening nurses through reflective dialogues on the realities experienced, increasing awareness and enabling interventions to transform their practices in child health care.