This article discusses the Brazilian scientific literature on nursing work based on Marxist categories, with the aim of investigating their contributions and tendencies. The study is a quanti-qualitative review of 97 articles published between 1981 and 2008, indexed in the LILACS. It is discussed: number and periodical distribution; themes; methodological and conceptual approaches. It was identified: a growing body of literature on nursing especially from 2000 onwards; the growth of approaches on the subjects, their perceptions and social interaction; the incorporation recently into the debate on caring and nursing care management; the predominance of qualitative research and, from the 1990s onwards, the incorporation of concepts from other theoretical paths linked to Marxists categories. There was evidence of a search for understanding of the movements, contradictions and dilemmas in nursing as a heterogeneous social practice.
work; nursing; nursing research; review literature as topic
