This is a quanti-qualitative study that had the purpose to characterize nurses who work in psychiatric institutions at the city of Ribeirão Preto, focussing on their education, identifying nursing actions that those professionals perform daily and finding out about practice and knowledge that they consider specific to their area. The discussions on the results were based on authors who study psychiatric nursing teaching and research. Data evidenced a sample mainly formed by adult women, with a reasonable period of service in the area. The majority of the professionals did not search for specialization or continuing education courses and did not participate in training courses and scientific events. Among the actions that nurses perform daily, the bureaucratic-administrative ones are emphasized. They mentioned some themes such as specific knowledge on psychiatric nursing, especially therapeutic relationship. They also pointed out some difficulties and facilities they found regarding their professional education and knowledge updating.
psychiatric nursing; mental health; nurses; professional practice
