Abstract
The aim of this study was to identify knowledge and practice about the strategy of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) in the professional practice of graduates of the School of Nursing at University of São Paulo (EEUSP). It was developed a descriptive study from a quantitative approach. Online questionnaire, created and managed by the editor Dream Weaver, was sent to 396 graduate students from 2003-2007. From this total, 62 (16.6%) were labeled as non-existent addresses and 61 (15.4%) questionnaires were filled. The descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS version 16.0. Most respondents were women (91.8%) and the participant ages concentrated between 25 and 29 years old (65.6%). Two-thirds had made at least one graduate course, mostly in hospitals. Only one-third worked or works in primary care. Two ex-students correctly answered all the questions about knowledge, one of them with training in IMCI. The strategy was remembered as part of the undergraduate curriculum for almost all graduates (95.1%) and useful for 86.9%. For 45.9%, the workload was insufficient for their learning and practice and 37.7% did not feel confident to apply the strategy in professional practice. The results showed that almost all participants remembered the strategy in the undergraduate curriculum and most consider it useful. On the other hand, more than one third did not feel confident to apply it, and little of the theoretical content has been consolidated. This data suggests the need for a revision of the teaching methodology adopted.