Limitations and possibilities in university management performed by nursing managers*

Abstract

Objective: Understand limitations and possibilities in university management performed by nursing managers of the undergraduate nursing course of a public university. Method: A qualitative study with theoretical and methodological framework anchored in the Grounded Theory. Data collection took place between May and September 2016, and the studied scenario was the Nursing Department of a public university in southern Brazil. Results: The entrepreneurial profile and the leadership in interpersonal relations were highlighted among the possibilities, in addition to the co-responsibility in raising public resources to solve the university educational demands; as limitations, the scarcity of financial resources and the high demand for bureaucratic activities which have repercussions on the slowness of university public management processes. Conclusion: The nursing manager experiences limitations through their actions and interactions with people, and recognizes possibilities in the structure and processes of coordinating issues of collective interest in the university educational context.