From the call to action: Challenges and possibilities of post-pandemic nursing

By Mônica Maria de Jesus Silva

nursing professionals, especially when we consider training exclusively through this modality.

The challenge is even greater when one observes the lack of a national wage floor, which results in inadequate and unsatisfactory remuneration for nurses, technicians and nursing assistants. In our country, the greatness of the category contrasts with the low wages still practiced in certain regions. Although nursing represents the largest contingent of workers in the Unified Health System (SUS) in Brazil, working not only in restoring health, in hospitals, but also in Primary Health Care, in the prevention, recovery and promotion of the population's health Brazilian, wages do not match the workload. After years of struggle, in 2022, the Executive sanctioned Law nº 14434/2022, approved by the National Congress, which regulates the minimum salary for Nursing. However, it was suspended by order of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to analyze the impact of its implementation, highlighting the need to overcome obstacles to guarantee category rights through the minimum wage.

Added to this is the unequal distribution of nurses in a country of continental dimensions, such as Brazil. On the one hand, there is a large contingent of professionals in large urban centers, mainly in state capitals, to the detriment of the countryside On the other hand, there is a concentration of nurses in the Southeast Region, while the North and Northeast regions suffer from a shortage

In addition to the lessons learned from the obstacles overcome in the areas of assistance, teaching, research and management of care and health services, the pandemic also presented us with possibilities for the future When rethinking Health Care and the work process in nursing to meet the old and new demands in the postpandemic world, paths are envisioned in expanded training, leadership and innovation, towards digital health and a population of patients increasingly empowered to use technology

In a scenario of changes like the current one, it is time to make use of these pillars to observe the before and after of the health practice established