Desafios e potencialidades na gerência das unidades básicas de saúde: experências de enfermeiros no sul do Brasil

Abstract

This Final Course Assignment aimed to understand the challenges and potentialities present in the management of Primary Health Care Units (UBS) based on the experiences of nurses who work as managers in a medium-sized municipality in southern Brazil. This is a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study conducted with 26 nurses who participated in focus groups. Data were analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) technique, which involves identifying Key Expressions (ECH), elaborating Central Ideas (IC), and constructing synthesized discourses that represent the collective thinking of the participants. For analytical organization, the material was grouped into two themes: (1) challenges and weaknesses and (2) potentialities and facilitating aspects in UBS management. Eight Central Ideas emerged across these themes. Challenges included the absence of managerial protocols and workflows, work overload resulting from the accumulation of administrative and care responsibilities, bureaucratic delays in administrative processes, difficulties in the use of computerized systems, and communication failures within the network. Potentialities included the use of protocols and digital systems, team integration and effective communication, structural and organizational improvements in the units, and positive expectations regarding the development of digital manuals of routines and workflows. It is concluded that nursing management in Primary Health Care is a dynamic and evolving process, marked by institutional challenges but also by advances that strengthen service organization and care quality. The findings highlight the need for continued investment in specific training, technical and institutional support, and the consolidation of standardized practices that promote autonomy and safety for nurse managers.