title: Public health emergency: social representations among managers of a university hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to comprehend the social representations of public health emergencies among managers who experienced the Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic of 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  a qualitative case study, with its theoretical and methodological framework based on the Theory of Social Representations. The data was obtained through the techniques of free association and semi-structured interviews, applied individually to managers who worked in different positions of the hierarchical management structure of the institution during the pandemic emergency, a total of 30 participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  thematic content analysis resulted in the following categories: vulnerability, health protection, neglect - gray areas of the public sphere, and integrality. The social representations of public health emergencies attest to continuities that transit the overvalorization of negative discourses linked to the health/education public space, naturalization of the substantial character of the epidemic, and normative managerial action. However, the defense of ongoing education as a necessity associated with emergency management revealed possibilities for change in the technical-scientific perception of the management.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  to understand healthcare/nursing workers as political beings, assuming responsibilities in the areas of the macro and micro policies of the State, the university hospitals and the work teams, is a pathway that is emerging for the management of emergencies.
authors: Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Dirciara Barañano
authors: DB
authors: Souza
authors: Clarice Maria
authors: CM
authors: Dall'Agnol
mesh_terms: D004630:Emergencies; D006740:Hospital Administrators; D006785:Hospitals, University; D011634:Public Health; D012938:Social Perception