A qualitative and exploratory case study was conducted in a surgery unit of a university hospital. The study aimed to analyze the nurses' work from the perspective of health care production and clinical practice. The subjects of the study were six nurses. Non-participant observations, documentary research and in-depth interviews were carried out, followed by discursive textual analysis. Nursing work is organized according to two interconnected and interdependent perspectives: a clinical model, which forms the central structure of its practice, and a structure formed by multiple and heterogeneous elements. in this way, the clinical model of health care is organized as a centered structure that enables the fulfillment of biological needs and acts as a basis for connecting disparate knowledge and practices that expand practice through interconnections with the work environment.