The purpose of this article is to make a critical analysis about power relationships, which permeate daily professional and/or institutional actions in the hospital environment. This reflection is based on a concrete situation experienced by a group of nursing professors from a state university in Paraná, which unleashed conflicts concerning interprofessional and interinstitutional power relationships. This study focuses on power relationships in the hospital emphasizing the interrelations that characterize nursing practice. We believe that these relationships can only be understood, reflected upon and rebuilt in the context of daily practice, as new ways of collective action are sought.