STANDARDS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT FOUND NURSING PERFORMANCE IN HOME CARE

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the knowledge standards that found nursing practices in the home care setting. Method: qualitative study using a single case study strategy, supported by the dialectical methodological framework. Thirteen nurses who work in home care services from two municipalities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, participated. The data were obtained in 266.5 hours of participant observation and 8 hours and 58 minutes of interview and submitted to Critical Discourse Analysis. Results: empirical knowledge was revealed to be fundamental for clinical, managerial and educational care at home. The adaptations specific to this environment require aesthetic knowledge. The relational and educational actions, the decisions responsible for benefiting the individual and his family, the doubt and willingness to learn when dealing with unpredictable cases and the assessment of the socioeconomic conditions of the family, represent, respectively, personal, ethical, lack of knowledge and sociopolitical aspects present in the practice of nurses in home care. Conclusion: the particularities of home care trigger different patterns of knowledge to ensure creative, sensitive, human and responsible care. Innovation and availability to learn are part of nurses' performance in home care. The need for differentiated training is reinforced in order to respond to the increasing complexity in this field.