[Integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) in the practice of nurses graduated from USP].

This is a description of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy in the professional practice of nurses graduated from the School of Nursing of University of São Paulo (EE-USP). This is a case study of qualitative approach. The data were collected through focus groups and analyzed using thematic content analysis. IMCI strategy was considered an important tool in child health care, but only the assessment module was apart of professional practice. Difficulties in the use of the IMCI were: the strategy was not implanted at health services, it was unknown by co-workers and institutional obstacles. In spite of the limited and non-systematic use of IMCI, it has allowed nurses to provide integrated and comprehensive attention to the child, which justifies its teaching on undergraduate courses. Maintenance of the educational video, expansion of the practice, integration of courses and optimization of content and workload were suggested for improving the teaching of IMCI at the undergraduate level.