Changing connections between professionalism and managerialism: a case study of nursing in Portugal

Abstract

Over the last three decades New Public Management, with the redefinition of the central roles of the state and the withdrawal of state financial support to health care, has radically altered the landscape of hospital provision in Portugal. Within this context it is usually suggested that the redefinition of state and public organization, based on managerialism norms and values, questions welfare professions’ traditional professionalism. Nurses are a relevant group for analysis since their professionalization process has been highly dependent on doctors, and centred on care principles. In this context, it is relevant to analyse how nurses are facing the new environment while maintaining their traditional professionalism. This article presents some findings from a qualitative study in Portugal. Based on interviews with 103 nurses with managerial responsibilities in public hospitals, one found that nurses develop hybrid professionalism by simultaneously incorporating and reconfiguring the professional traditional norms and values and the organizations’ dominant discourses and norms.