Curricular reform in brazilian nursing undergraduate education: processes, trends and challenges

Abstract

We present data about curricular reform in undergraduate nursing education in Brazil, with the objective to identify curricular changes to undergraduate nursing education and contribute to the process of discussion and evaluation of faculty members and students, which has been in progress since the implementation of the proposal of curricular reform of a nursing undergraduate course in the western region of Paraná State. We selected 16 articles from the Lilacs (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) database and one from an education magazine, totalizing 17 articles, which altogether mentioned 11 curricular reforms in public (federal and state) universities. We identified the process undergone by the course; the tendency towards collective construction of projects; the theoretical referential of Freire and the methodology of problematization; the critical-social theory of contents and the referential of mission statement in the construction of projects; integrated curricular, and disciplinary curricular as curricular structures; the difficulties, facilities and challenges experienced in the reforms; the National Health Care System being the focus of the formation; the Brazilian Association of Nursing acting in the promotion of the discussions on the formation of the course. The data will be subsidies for work related to the discussion and evaluation political-pedagogical project for the course.