Legacies of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Work of Nurse Managers in Primary Health Care: Subjective and Organizational Reconfigurations

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic imposed unprecedented challenges on health care work, especially in Primary Health Care (PHC), where nurse managers assumed strategic responsibilities in management and care. This study analyzes the legacies of this experience in a medium-sized municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Based on a qualitative approach grounded in the Clinics of Work, interviews were conducted in two stages, including an evocative self-confrontation in which participants revisited their statements to reconstruct lived experiences. Using content analysis, the results revealed lasting effects organized into two axes: subjective-relational, encompassing transformations in the meanings of work, interpersonal relationships, and self-care; and organizational-political, involving institutional reinventions, the protagonism of nurses, and the enhanced value of PHC. These legacies, understood as enduring transformations in ways of working, managing, and caring, continue to influence work and care practices. The study contributes to recognizing living labor and to developing public policies sensitive to professionals’ lived experiences.