Problematizing teaching-service integration in the context of the privatization of higher education in nursing

Abstract

In Brazil, for more than three decades, higher education in Nursing has been subject to an intensive privatization process. This article analyzes the expansion of undergraduate nursing courses in the state of Pernambuco and the consequences of privatization for the teaching-service integration. It is a descriptive-exploratory case study that uses techniques which combine quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The findings show that the state follows the national trend by prioritizing the expansion of the private sector which in 2018 already held 94% of all vacancies. They also point to an incipient public regulation regarding authorization for the opening of nursing courses that should be adjusted to the capacity of the Primary Health Care network. This has resulted in an intense dispute between public and private Higher Education Institutions for training opportunities. The absence of dialogue and integrated planning between the health and education sectors, and the lack of political resolve to implement Organizational Contracts for Public Action in the Teaching-Health context, together produce an effect that corrodes from within the necessary interinstitutional cooperation proclaimed by the teaching-services integration guidelines.

Keywords:
Teaching Care Integration Services; Education in Nursing; Higher Education; Privatization; Primary Health Care