Reflections on the 4 nursing functions and impacts in Latin America Reflexiones de los 4 roles de enfermería e impactos en América Latina

Abstract

Nursing, recognized as a professional discipline, has knowledge directed to the care of human life; its development has differentiated it from other disciplines, giving it particular visibility from four roles: management, teaching, research and clinical care. For which a reflection on the positive and negative impacts of the evolution of nursing in Latin America in these roles was generated, from the management point of view, there is evidence of important advances from the guild and organizational leadership, but setbacks in the political and institutional scaling up. There is a gap in professional training compared to other regions, even so, the growth of educational programs has given the possibility of professionalization, but the challenge of quality, training disparity and the offer centered on the clinical paradigm is debated. In the research field, the creation of doctoral and post-graduate programs that expand the generation of knowledge is highlighted, but there are also barriers in the transfer and collective visibility of knowledge. In the clinical area, where the training and labor actions of the professional are most addressed, there are great challenges in terms of growth, organization, scaling, security and labor precariousness. In this perspective, the U-Nursing LatAm community has been integrated to contribute to the region in these challenges. Finally, it is concluded that most of the challenges are related to social and soft skills that must be enhanced on a personal and collective level. All situations require a direct assessment of the possibilities of strengthening and improving nursing in each country of the region, taking into account the four roles.