Perspectives of family health nurses on their role as health educators

Abstract

Introduction: The Family Health Program (FHP) was created in 1994 as a strategy of the Ministry of Health of Brazil for prioritizing actions that seek the promotion, protection, and recovery of the individual and the family aiming a result of individual autonomy and the determinants and public health conditions. This program should be the user's first contact with the Unique Health System, at this and nursing care context that is based on educational activities the nurse guides, teaches, indicates the health care paths. Aim: This study aims to analyze the educational role of the FHP nurse. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive and exploratory research with qualitative approach. The study was developed in the city of Irajuba / BA in local and prearranged time with nurses working in the FHP. The collection was done through workshop and semi - structured interview. The data analysis strategy was content analysis, based on Bardin. Results: The results of the study reveal important reflections about the professionals' perceptions, since they recognized how fundamental health education is in the Health in Family Strategy (HFS), also recognizing the importance of getting to know the reality of the community served, which consequently stimulates the activities in the HFS. Conclusion and suggestions: health education becomes a tool for nursing to guarantee the maintenance of the health of individuals, as it enables the exercise of citizenship, the realization of personal and social changes, the formation of ethical subjects, capable of making society more just, human and solidary.