The limitations and possibilities of nurses' work in the family health strategy: in the search for autonomy.

UNLABELLED The paper addresses how nurses can contribute to the consolidation of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) within the Brazilian National Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), in the search for professional autonomy. OBJECTIVES To discuss the limitations and possibilities of nursing work in the FHS aimint at the consolidation of the SUS; evaluate the available nursing appointments carried out by the FHS in Belo Horizonte (BH); reflect on the political aspects of nurses' autonomy on job positions. This is a quanti-qualitative stud study. We evaluated the availablitiy of nursing appointments in basic Health Units (BHs) based on secondary data and official parameters as indicators of autonomy. Subsequently, through focal groups, we analyzed nurses' autonomy in the FHS. Nurses can strengthen the FHS for the consolidation of the SUS, as long as they improve their understanding of the socio-historical context of nursing, the ambiguity of power relationships and social practice of the profession, improving it criticism, collectively and creatively.