Learning Objective #1: comprehend the methodology to find professional competencies profile in techical level of nursing workers

Learning Objective #2: recognize three dimensions of competencies under critical emancipator perspective: know-know, know-do and know-acting

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In Brazil, the recognition of the historical right to healthcare (enshrined in the Federal Constitution of 1988) and education has recast itself into the right to professional health education. This study describes a method for identifying the profile of professional competencies for nursing technical level workers that has been developed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Based on the critical-emancipator perspective adopted, competency is understood in a multidimensional sense, embracing the individual as well as the socio-cultural, the situational and the procedural contexts. Thus the competencies under consideration are related to contexts, socio-cultural spaces and temporalities, economics and politics; they express social relations and result from negotiations among the interests of the diverse social parties involved in the health care process. The phases to construction of profile were as follows: a) Brazilian Nursing Association survey report; b) analyze and discussion of results of survey; c) draft of profile by specialists; d) public consulting to profile validation e) final definition of professional competencies under three dimensions (know-know, know-do, and know-act as an ethical professional). The whole process of developing and validating the profile of professional competencies for auxiliary nurses has provided the health care field with an opportunity to understand the need to incorporate this profile into the health policies of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, as well as into the Brazilian Ministry of Education's National Curricular Guidelines at the technical level. We can see an important tool for the organization of the training of workers, once the activities of work environment have been effectively considered to be a structuring axis that underpins professional education. And also competency was revealed to be a social attitude, over and above a set of professional knowledge bases, thus emphasizing that its development must value the autonomy and freedom of work relations.