Sofía Pincheira Oyarzún, the University Professionalization of Nursing Care, a Historiographic Account

Abstract

Chile during the early twentieth century, had a social and health reality of deficiencies that was reflected in a high prevalence of infectious diseases, low life expectancy of people and a high rate of infant mortality. In this context, the government encourages specialization strategies for nurses in the United States, with a socio-sanitary approach. Sofia Pincheira, was one of the first commissioners to pursue this specialization and upon returning to Chile, wrote the document «Contribution to the study of the Organization of Nursing Schools in Chile (1934)» in which she explicit premises for the professionalization of nursing care. Nursing. Objective. with the purpose of contributing to the construction of knowledge of Latin American Nursing, the objective is to revisit Sofía Pincheira’s discourse, based on a documentary historiographical analysis of her writing in 1934, according to Skinner’s theoretical assumptions. Results. the analysis will be presented in three parts; Historical contextualization of Sofía Pincheira (Chile 1900 - 1940), Describing «Contribution to the study of the Organization of Nursing Schools in Chile» and the knowledge that nurses must acquire for their emancipation: Sofía Pincheira’s proposal. Conclusions. Your proposal constitutes an adaptation to the national reality of the policies implemented in first world countries to deal with the health contingency of the time and in particular the training of nurses. Under this logic, its approach is innovative, since, by strengthening the body of nursing knowledge, it vindicates the social role of the Chilean woman-nurse through university education.