Objective: to understand the meaning of the university management performed by nurses managers of the nursing undergraduate course of a public university.
Method: this is a qualitative research, based on the grounded theory. Data collection took place between May and September 2016, with open interviews, in the scenario of a federal public university. The technique of constant comparative analysis of the data was followed, obtaining a theoretical sample with 19 nurses, in two sample groups.
Results: there were three categories emerged that shaped the phenomenon: Articulating complex collectives through university management for the qualified training of new nurses. The categories included: a) conditions, defined by perceiving the commitment to the collective, previous experiences, and training for health management, as motivations to be a teacher manager; b) actions/interactions, delimited by Knowing and recognizing, in practice, the university management process, limits and possibilities in the coordination of complex collective subjects; and, c) consequences, such as Improving teaching work and taking responsibility for university education.
Conclusion: the nurses teaching managers to explain university management as a set of individual and collective actions that, articulated in a complex social environment, promote conditions for the training of critical and reflexive nurses with the demands of society.