The concept and practice of comprehensiveness in Primary Health Care: nurses' perception

Abstract

The objective of this study is to debate on the nurses' discourse on the concept of health comprehensiveness and how to implement it in primary health care practice. Considering that comprehensiveness is one of the pillars of the Brazilian public health system (SUS) and taking nursing work force as a considerable commission of people to work for the construction of the SUS, the authors considered important to identify the conceptual bases and practices that guide nurses' work towards in the construction of health comprehensiveness. In this qualitative, exploratory study interviews were performed with 10 nurses working in primary health care centers in three cities in the interior state of São Paulo. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews and analyzed according to the collective subject discourse technique. Results showed that the nurses' conceptions on comprehensiveness are directly relates with providing care, and that these professionals put comprehensiveness into practice through their everyday work.