the study intended to analyze the conceptions of academics of nursing about the nurse's work. through a questionnaire with students of the first, fifth and nineth semesters, it was verifyed that the answers of the students of the last semester are closer to the practice of the profission, because these students see the nurse as key of the work in health. the academics of the first semester mention only the humanitarian dimension of the work. and the ones of the fifth semester evidence the administration of the care and the work in group as actual in the daily one of the nurse. it can be affirmed that education plays an important role in the construction of the conceptions of the students, having, since early, to approach them of the reality of the practical professional.
