[The search for attitudinal commitment: tendency in the manager nurse's ethical behavior].

Historically, nurses' management functions have evidenced that their conduct is compatible with programmatic commitments. This fact was observed in the analysis of 18 studies carried out in healthcare services located in different Brazilian regions. Since the 1990's, management experts have alerted that traits such as commitment, interdisciplinarity, risk, uncertainty, spirituality, and ethical involvement will frame the characteristics of the human capital of 21st century organizations. In this much more humane environment, people's integrity and their way of relating at work must be based on the dimension of BEING. In order to face the new century institutions' healthcare demands, nurses are now urged to present a conduct permeated by the ethics of the attitudinal commitment. Thus, this study aims to stimulate a critical reflection on this ethical trend of nurses and finally propose that this trend be an essential value in nursing management processes.