Current challenges in nursing education: the professor’s perspective

Abstract

Objective: understanding the perspective of professors of nursing courses on the challenges faced in the process of curricular reconstruction. Methods: a qualitative research with 21 nursing professors from six Higher Education Institutions. The data analysis was carried out using the hermetic and dialectic technique. Results: there are difficulties in curricular reorganization in relation to teacher training according to the new social requirements and a lack of integration of the different knowledge areas. There are also aggravating factors such as knowledge gaps in high school students, the distance between education and the working world, and a lack of interest in becoming a nurse. Conclusion: according to the professors’ perceptions there is positive movement toward curricular organization, despite the outstanding challenges involved in nurses’ training/education such as the lack of teacher training for dealing with innovative proposals, the distance between the working world and the training process, little social valorization of the profession, and the low quality of primary and secondary education in Brazil.