Professional Master's degree in Nursing: knowledge production and challenges

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the production of knowledge resulting from the professional master's degree programs in Nursing and to reflect about their perspectives for the area. METHOD: descriptive and analytical study. Data collected from the dissertations of three educational institutions that graduated students in programs of professional master's degree in Nursing between 2006 and 2012 were included. RESULTS: most of the 127 course completion studies analyzed were developed within hospital contexts; there was a focus on the organizational and healthcare areas, in the research fields care process and management, and predominance of qualitative studies. There are various products resulting from the course completion studies: evaluation of services/healthcare programs and development of processes, care or educational protocols. CONCLUSION: the programs of professional master's degree in Nursing, which are undergoing a consolidation stage, have recent production under development and there is a gap in the creation of hard technologies and innovation. They are essential for the development of innovative professional practices that articulate the healthcare and educational areas.