Ludwik Fleck’s analysis of public health nurses in the legitimization of the profession in Minas Gerais (1940–1970)

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the trajectory of three nurses – Rosa de Lima Moreira, Isaltina Goulart de Azevedo and Carmelita Pinto Rabelo –, considering their actions in Minas Gerais for the legitimization of nursing thought collective, based on Fleck’s ideas, between 1940 and 1970. Method: A qualitative and documentary study in the field of science history in interface with nursing history. Sources of different typologies and prosopographical nature were collected. The analysis considered Ludwik Fleck’s framework. Results: Historical findings indicate strong movement of these women in educational and associative institutional spaces in favor of public health in Minas Gerais, with agendas for training technical professional staff in health education at the Minas Gerais School of Public Health, in spaces within the scope of undergraduate and graduate studies at the Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, and militancy for the profession at the Brazilian Nursing Association. Conclusion: The intersection of trajectories shows that the triad of nurses from Minas Gerais sought legitimacy for nursing, contributing to a professional and epistemological inflection.