Objective: To characterize the stricto sensu scientific production of Brazilian nursing that resorts to phenomenological theoretical frameworks.
Method: Descriptive, exploratory, and document study carried out using the CAPES catalog of theses and dissertations from January to April 2022.
Result: The sample included 600 dissertations and theses, with a predominance of the Heideggerian framework, followed by Schütz and Merleau-Ponty. Topics discussed included nursing care in women's health, mental health, pediatric and adolescent nursing, oncology nursing, obstetric nursing, Primary Health Care, as well as family and nursing education.
Conclusion: Phenomenology was found to be a powerful reference for the unveiling of the phenomena of interest to the field of nursing, contributing to the construction of knowledge about the being who cares, the being who is cared for, and the care itself.