Formação e identidade profissional: estímulos à investigação em história da Enfermagem

Abstract

Training and professional identity: encouragement to investigate the history of nursing U nderstanding the historical building process of a professional activity, such as nursing, is an essential element in the a rmation of its identity. e speci c purpose of this text is to draw attention to this fact and o er some conceptual incentives to broaden the work in the history of nursing. So, what categories should we use and develop to study the process of building the professional identity of nursing? Let's start with the principle that the concept of professional identity is a plural concept that includes individuals, educational institutions, work contexts, sociopolitical dynamics, gender issues, religious and state in uences, internal and external pressures, and con icts that require choosing and de ning identity strategies that enable the group's a rmation, with advances and setbacks, and the building of a professional jurisdiction. Studying professional groups, such as nursing, requires resources for building an analysis model that is able to systematically illustrate some of the aspects that contribute to its construction and, in so doing, nd in the profession's past an anchor to highlight the identity of the individuals who are part of the nursing profession and develop it in the present. We consider that "the understanding of an identity-building process can only be interpreted, broadly, if attention is paid to dialogue, negotiation, and con ict with the various participants in this process." (1) To this end, we propose a set of categories that may serve as supporting elements for studying identity-building processes in nursing. A socio-historic analysis of the process and dynamics for building a professional group are rooted in at least three dimensions, two elds of action and four lines of analysis that must be taken into account in the process to investigate group dynamics and professional identities. With regard to the three conceptual dimensions, we are referring to the need to examine the role of the state, according to the political projects of a specific era, in in uencing the paths and dynamics of the nursing group. We are also referring to the scienti c dimension, often in uenced by the state, where knowledge is produced and analyzed-through training schools-and is potentially related to the nursing group; and also to the social dimension where the paths of individuals who choose to become nurses need to be explored, i.e., socioeconomic and family aspects and especially those related to issues of social mobility that can in uence the de nition of the paths taken by nursing.