Nurse as an integrator in healthcare management of children with chronic condition.

OBJECTIVES: to understand the practice of the nurse in healthcare management of children with chronic condition in the hospital setting. METHODS: analytical study of qualitative approach with theoretical and methodological reference of institutional ethnography. Developed in the pediatric unit of a university hospital, in a municipality in Northeastern Brazil. Data collections techniques were: participant observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interview. Participants of the study totaled twenty professionals, including nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, and doctors. For data analysis, it was used the Bardin's Content Analysis with interface of the Atlas.ti software. RESULTS: categories of analysis were "Nurse as mediator of healthcare management"; "Nursing process as a mechanism of healthcare management". FINAL: considerations: the nurse proved to be essential for healthcare management of the child with chronic condition, acting as mediator of the relationship between the doctor, the members of the health team, the user and their family.