Introduction

Professional nurse autonomy is considered a complex issue with little attention, especially in fields that demand highly complex actions such as the operating room.

Objective

To analyze the social representations made by nurses about their professional autonomy in the operating room.

Materials and Methods

An exploratory descriptive qualitative study was conducted based on the theoretical underpinning of the Theory of Social Representations. Nine nurses, who work in the operating room of a university hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro, participated in the study. The data were collected between June and October 2017 through a semi-structured interview and subsequently subjected to thematic analysis.

Results

Based on the data analysis made, the following categories were created: the professional autonomy of the operating room nurse: knowledge, freedom of action and decision-making power; the constraints to professional nurse autonomy in the operating room: hierarchical and power relationships and knowledge.

Discussion

Professional nurse autonomy in the operating room is an object of representation with different cognitive and practical dimensions: the first one is mainly based on technical-scientific knowledge, while the second one is based on the freedom of action and the decision-making power required to exercise full autonomy.

Conclusions

Professional nurse autonomy is an object of social representation conceived as a body that generates knowledge, know-how, reflection and professional identity that can arouse attitudes and practices.

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