Nursing process in pedagogical projects of technical nursing courses: document analysis

Objective: To analyze the approach to the Nursing Process in the Pedagogical Projects of Technical Nursing Programs at Brazil’s Federal Institutes. Method: A documentary, qualitative, and descriptive study analyzing 23 pedagogical projects. Data were organized in Excel® and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and IRaMuTeQ software, through Descending Hierarchical Classification and similarity analysis. Interpretation was based on the thematic analysis proposed by Bardin. Results: The topics of nursing diagnosis, prescription, and theory were either absent or superficially included in the syllabi analyzed. The predominant approach focused on task execution and followed the biomedical model. Conclusion: Technical nursing education shows weaknesses in how the Nursing Process is addressed, reflecting a reductionist and operational educational logic. Restructuring pedagogical projects to fully integrate the elements of the Nursing Process is essential to strengthening the critical and autonomous practice of nursing technicians.