The main objective of the National Policy for Permanent Education in Health (PNEPS) is qualifying and developing workers for the health sector. Base on the assumptions of this policy, an attempt was made to analyze the reality of permanent education (PE) in the public health services in the municipality of Florianópolis, state of Santa Catarina, via a qualitative descriptive survey. A semi-structured interview was carried out with 16 subjects who are in charge of the basic care PE initiatives, of the hospital sector and of municipal and state public agencies. Content analysis was adopted as the analytical data procedure, organized in three categories: planning of the PE in health proposals; the teaching and learning methodology and techniques used in PE actions; and the assessment of the PE action process and results. The results show that the health services in Florianópolis are progressing, even if slowly, with interesting, although punctual PE initiatives. It was seen that PE is not prioritized on account of the 'vicious cycle' of the difficulties in the health services. Therefore, it is fundamental to have a critical, freeing education, one that allows for the perception of changes among the workers, in the work environment, and among the users, with reflexes on health service quality.
continued education; public health policies; educational hospital service
