Social _ historical study about the actuation of the head nurse in the hospitals, in the middle of the XX century. Objectives: describe the meaning of the matter published in the Revista Anais de Enfermagem ("Annals of Nursing Journal") about the head nurse; analyze the instructors actuation of the Anna Nery School (EAN) in the stage fields and compare the minutes registrations of the meetings about this actuation with the content selected in the cited Journal. Patrimony: Center of Documentation, Library of Post-Graduation and Nuphebras, all of the EEAN. It evidenced a consensus between authoresses of the papers and the nurses graduated from the EAN who, as service heads and the students' instructors, were ruled by a strong coordinator and centralizing action of the EAN head, contributing decisively for the raise of the nursing service pattern in the hospitals where they worked.
nursing history; head nurses; hospital administration