A dialectical view of curriculum changes in nursing training

Objective: To understand the contradictions involved in the process of curriculum reconstruction in the training of nurses, on the professors' perception. Method: Qualitative interpretative study, in which professors of nursing courses from three public and three private institutions were interviewed. The analysis was based on dialectical hermeneutics. Results: 21 professors participated in the study. The proposals of changes are associated with advances and resistances, since the extended view of the health-disease process is opposed to the biological view; the diversification of learning scenarios is confronted with the hegemony of the hospital scenario; the integration of teaching and service faces the inequality of participation of the parties; and integration between the basic and the clinical cycle finds resistance in the knowledge accumulated in each discipline. Conclusion: The contradictions found, although inherent to the change process, indicate that persistence and continuous movement towards curriculum reformulation are necessary.