Editorial

Abstract

To commemorate the ten years since its creation, the History and Knowledge of Nursing Study Group (GEHCE) from the PostGraduate Program in Nursing at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (PEN-UFSC), the Journal Texto & Contexto Nursing releases, "A nursing and health-care history". Considering the importance of this topic within the profession, we look to attend a growing demand for studies within this knowledge area. Since the end of the 1960s, the place of the historian has extended without exception into everything that is perceivable through social observation. History has been amplified beyond its ancient borders, while at the same time has returned to its ancient and previously considered well-exhausted dominion: the re-reading of documents utilized by our predecessors, with a new view and form. New topics that are investigated are virtually related with every human activity. For example, infancy, femininity, madness, weather, education, sex, death, and others are zones one finds on the frontiers of that which is biological, mental, natural, and cultural. Publications about these topics that were unimaginable 50 years ago constitute today a coherent assemblage with vast literature already available. Concerning Nursing, one perceives clearly the need to perform historical research in order to constitute a professional memory which can thus be critically analyzed. Such a situation is characterized as a challenge to be increasingly faced. For this, systematic registry of the history of Nursing in its diverse phases and faces, developed in different regions throughout the world, could result in a self-awareness exercise for nurses that would offer a consequential explanation of their professional identity. On the other hand, historical Nursing references will be able to contribute as well towards its recognition of behalf of society, allied with the effectively exercised practice and co-substantiated by the design of nursing professionals. This, in and of itself, is another challenge to be faced. When Nursing considers its own history, necessarily one appropriates and approximates interdisciplinary territories. Not only the area of historians, but anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers, among others; for without these considerations, it is impossible to comprehend the processes through which the history of Nursing has been constructed. It was indeed influenced by the "New History", which increased the view of the historian to other disciplines, establishing "good neighbor relationships" among these other fields. Each discipline carries with it its peculiarities and recovers the past over interdisciplinary bridges, as a kaleidoscope of unlimited facets… Knowledge is free, and viewing knowledge is impregnated from disciplinary life experiences. With this in mind, upon evaluating the topics that are published in this edition of Texto & Contexto Nursing Journal we realized an evident concern with analyzing the history of the profession in aspects relative to professional identity, the in...