Associative organization of nursing: struggles for the social recognition of the profession (1943-1946)

Organización asociativa de la enfermería: luchas por el reconocimiento social de la profesión (1943-1946)

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To describe the circumstances that determine the creation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section and analyze its implications for the reorganization of the field of nursing.

Method:

Qualitative, socio-historical, documentary study. The analysis generated the following category: Creation of a new group to guarantee unity: Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses in the Federal District Section.

Results:

The economic crisis resulting from the Second World War, the creation of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses and the increase in the number of Schools of Nursing in the country were decisive for the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses to reformulate its statute as to guarantee its unit.

Final considerations:

The creation of the Federal District Section consisted of one of the strategies of the Association to reorganize the field of nursing, in order to ensure the recognition of the profession by the society.

Descriptors:
History of Nursing; Societies; Associations; Education; Nursing

RESUMEN

Objetivos:

Describir las circunstancias que determinaron la creación de la Asociación Brasileña de Enfermeras Diplomadas Sección del Distrito Federal, y analizar las implicaciones del acto en la reorganización del área de enfermería.

Método:

Estudio cualitativo, sociohistórico, documental. El análisis generó la siguiente categoría: Creación de un nuevo grupo para garantizar la unidad: Asociación Brasileña de Enfermeras Diplomadas Sección del Distrito Federal.

Resultados:

La crisis económica determinada por la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la creación de la Asociación Paulista de Enfermeras Diplomadas y el incremento del número de escuelas de enfermería fueron determinantes para que la Asociación Brasileña de Enfermeras Diplomadas reformulase su estatuto, apuntando a garantizar su unidad.

Consideraciones finales:

La creación de la Sección del Distrito Federal consistió en una de las estrategias de la asociación para reorganizar el área de enfermería, de manera de asegurar el reconocimiento de la profesión por parte de la sociedad.

Descriptores:
Historia de la Enfermería; Sociedades; Asociaciones; Educación; Enfermería

RESUMO

Objetivos:

Descrever as circunstâncias que determinam a criação da Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas Seção do Distrito Federal e analisar as implicações dessa criação para a reorganização do campo da enfermagem.

Método:

Estudo qualitativo, sócio-histórico, documental. A análise gerou a seguinte categoria: Criação de um novo grupo para garantir a unidade: Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas Seção do Distrito Federal.

Resultados:

A crise econômica, decorrente da Segunda Guerra Mundial, a criação da Associação Paulista de Enfermeiras Diplomadas e o aumento do número de escolas de enfermagem no país foram determinantes para que a Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas reformulasse seu estatuto, de modo a garantir sua unidade.

Considerações finais:

A criação da Seção do Distrito Federal consistiu em uma das estratégias da associação para reorganizar o campo da enfermagem, de modo a assegurar o reconhecimento da profissão pela sociedade.

Descritores:
História da Enfermagem; Sociedades; Associações; Educação; Enfermagem

INTRODUCTION

The objective of the present study involves the symbolic struggle for unity of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses (ABED), through the creation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section, which was a nucleus of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses, both at the time, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Federal District Section received this denomination because, at the time of its creation, Rio de Janeiro was the federal capital. The timetable covers the period from 1943 to 1946. The year 1943 corresponds to the beginning of the administration (1943-1945) of the president of ABED (as it was called at the time), Zaíra Cintra Vidal⁽¹⁾. The final milestone, 1946, represents the year of the creation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section, a result of the struggles in the management of the above-mentioned president.

The movement to create an Association was initiated by the first graduates (1925 and 1926) of the Anna Nery School of Nursing (EAN), who wanted to create an Association of former students of the School^(2-4). During the course, the students participated in the Association of the Internal Government of Students (AGIA), in which probably the idea of creating an Association of former students was germinated, because when they graduated, they could no longer participate in AGIA^(2,5). The idea was then fulfilled on August 12^th, 1926, when the Association was founded in Rio de Janeiro, the federal capital at the time, with the denomination of the National Association of Graduate Nurses (ANED)⁽²⁾, expanding the initial intention to create an Association of former students to an Association of nurses and, therefore, on a national level⁽⁶⁾.

Throughout its trajectory, the Association underwent some modifications in its denomination. In 1928, ANED, in order to meet the requirements for membership in the International Council of Nurses (CIE), changed its name to the National Association of Brazilian Graduate Nurses (ANEDB)⁽⁷⁾. In 1944, there was a reorganization in the Association, when it was renamed as Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses (ABED), which was the name of the Association in the period comprised by the timeline of this study. For that reason, the Association will henceforth be addressed by that name. In 1954, ABED was renamed the Brazilian Nursing Association (ABEn), which is its current name.

With the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 and its development in later years, ABED was not immune to its repercussions and faced difficulties such as the low number of associates and also with its journal, Annaes de Enfermagem, created in 1932^(8-9), which had its publication interrupted⁽²⁾. The Annaes de Enfermagem journal, in 1946, became known as Anais de Enfermagem and, in 1955, Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem (Brazilian Journal of Nursing), the current denomination.

Due to these difficulties, president Zaíra Cintra Vidal and the nurses Marina Bandeira de Oliveira and Rosaly Rodrigues Taborda, in 1944, presented proposals that would enable the reorganization and re-emergence of the Association. These proposals culminated in the drafting of a new statute in the same year. Nevertheless, the changes in favor of the reorganization of the association continued even after the development of this statute⁽²⁾, as the discussions on the creation of sections of the Association, initiated previously, continued and intensified, as evidenced in the management report of Zaíra Cintra Vidal.

Zaíra Cintra Vidal traveled to the United States in the 1943-1944 period to participate in a continuing education course and there she visited the American Nurses Association (ANA) and, through the observation of the American association model, which had State Associations, Zaíra realized that it would be impossible to gather all the nurses into a single association, as in Brazil. However, before the proposal of creation of sections would be discussed and officially put into effect in the ABED statute — which would only happen in 1946 — a group of nurses mobilized to create an autonomous state section, led by School of Nursing of São Paulo, currently the School of Nursing of USP (EEUSP), created by State Decree-Law no. 13040, October 31^st, 1942⁽²⁾.

In São Paulo, the first movements for the creation of a State Association happened in 1942, yet the idea was not fulfilled at the time, and the activities in this direction were resumed in 1944. In that same year, a proposal was sent to ABED for a statute of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses. According to Carvalho⁽²⁾, this statute was approved, not specifying the place of approval, and the activities of that association began the following year, in 1945.

The São Paulo nurses movement, led by Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel, assumed that the intention of these nurses was to create an association independent of ABED, which at that moment had serious difficulties; and as demonstrated in the words and actions of its President, Zaíra Cintra Vidal, the association needed a rebound. However, not all the São Paulo nurses thought like this, like Haydée Guanais Dourado, who defended the creation of a section of the ABED in São Paulo, and not an “Association of Paulista Nurses” affiliated to ABED^(2,10).

In view of this situation, the board of ABED realized the need for a new amendment to the statute in order to add provisions on the creation of sections, which were incorporated in 1946. As a result of the discussions, the proposal approved and included in ABED, in 1946, was defended by Haydée Guanais Dourado, at the time, founding partner of the Section of São Paulo and professor at the School of Nursing of the University of São Paulo (EEUSP), in the defense of maintaining the Association’s name in addition to the sections corresponding to the São Paulo state, so as to ensure the unity of ABED^(2,11-12).

Thus, with the approval of these decisions in the statute, the Federal District Section (Rio de Janeiro) was created in a meeting on November 7^th, 1946, therefore the second section to be created by ABED. Unlike the São Paulo Section, the Federal District Section was created as a consequence of the proposal to create sections, which had been studied during the administration of President Zaíra Cintra Vidal and was finally created through the Statute of 1946⁽²⁾.

Thus, in the scope of the meeting regarding the creation of the Federal District Section, the first board was elected: Rosaly Rodrigues Taborda, president; Maria de Castro Pamphiro, vice-president; Lizelotte Hischel, secretary and; Annita Dourado Teixeira, treasurer. Also in 1946, another section of ABED, the Amazon Section, with its headquarters in Belém, was created. This section covered the states of Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão and northern territories (Amapá, Acre and Guaporé)⁽²⁾.

In view of the presented situation the objectives of the study are: to describe the circumstances that determine the creation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section and to analyze the implications of this creation on the reorganization of the field of nursing.

It is worth emphasizing that the study is justified by the importance of the Brazilian Association of Nursing not only for its relevant contribution to the development of nursing, but also for the recognition of this entity concerning the memory of Brazilian nursing.

METHOD

Ethical aspects

Regarding ethical aspects, the study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Anna Nery School of Nursing/São Francisco de Assis School Hospital (EEAN/HESFA), on April 28^th, 2015, in compliance with the Resolution no. 466 of December 12^th, 2012, of the Brazilian National Health Council.

Study characterization

This is a qualitative, socio-historical and documentary study. The primary sources are written documents such as: the ABED Statute (1947), the ABED and the Federal District Section Governance Reports, a copy of the Internal Regulations of the Federal District Section and copies of Annals of Nursing of the 1940s And 1950s. The Documentary of ABEn (1926-1976), produced by Anayde Correia de Carvalho, is also part of the documentary corpus of the study, which presents information related to the object of study.

Methodological procedures

Historical archives

Data production occurred between May and November 2015. The documentary scope referring the subject under study was located in the following collections: Documentation Center (CDOC) of the Anna Nery School of Nursing/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Center of the Memory of Brazilian Nursing, located at the headquarters of National ABEn, in Brasília; and in the archives of the Brazilian Association of Nursing of the Rio de Janeiro Section. In these archives, the choice of documents was guided by the research objectives.

As each research in particular enables the researcher to make choices regarding multiple documents⁽¹³⁾, the set of identified documents was submitted to adequacy analysis, in order to verify if these documents are in accordance with the proposed historical problem and the objectives outlined. Subsequently, the documentary corpus was created – that is, the selection of historical sources capable of providing information and evidence that can be interpreted historiographically was performed. The composition of the documentary corpus met the following criteria: relevance, sufficiency, completeness, representativeness and homogeneity.

After the composition of the documentary corpus, the documents were submitted to internal and external analysis. The external analysis focused on the examination of the authenticity of the document, examining whether the text was original or a copy, verifying its origin or authorship, excluding any source whose legitimacy was doubtful. On the other hand, the internal analysis managed the evaluation of the weight and value of the evidence, from the point of view of content, in order to understand the meaning of the information contained in the document, as to determine its authenticity and trustworthiness (14-16). It is worth to note that, through this process, “the historian determines the historical evidence on which he will rely to interpret or prove his hypotheses”⁽¹⁴⁾.

Data analysis

In the data analysis, the first step considered was the place of origin of the historical source, “a complex context that produces the document in its monumentality”⁽¹³⁾, and for such consideration, the contextualization of the document was a fundamental aspect for the analysis of the evidences from the data. For the comprehension of this context in all its implications, the concept adopted was that “every text, whichever it is, has a sender (the one who produces the text), an object (the message that is transmitted) and a receiver (to whom the message is intended) “⁽¹³⁾.

Then, the sources were read, and, based on the interpretation of the findings, explanatory texts were elaborated from an analysis of the context unit, situating the social event (ABED) in the sociocultural context, as to overcome the mere description, to achieve analytical level. To this end, there was an attempt to compare the historical context, the dominant social structures in the field and in the sources. Specifically, the analysis of the symbolic struggles undertaken by ABED nurses for the recognition of the profession in the society involved the comparison between the historical context, the strategies of struggle adopted by them and the structures of the association.

In addition, considering that this study is imbricated with the socio-historical process of the constitution of social groups of nurses, data analysis was based on the understanding of the sociological field from the concepts of habitus, field, capital, power and symbolic struggle developed by Pierre Bourdieu. Such concepts were useful to understand the process of constitution of a new group whose nurses received the power of creating and speaking on behalf of an established group, which is ABED. The methodological reference comprises theoretical foundations from authors who address, in their studies, the application of the historical method, according to the precepts of the New History.

From the analysis of the findings, two categories emerged: Creation of a new group: Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section and Implantation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses.

Inclusion criteria

The inclusion criteria for the historical sources of this study include the selection of written documents belonging to the timeline of the study. Such contents included the ABED strategies in favor of creating sections, the functioning of the Federal District Section and its achievements in favor of nursing.

RESULTS

Creation of a new group to guarantee unity: Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section

The 1940s were very important for the organization of nursing education in Brazil, the number of schools of nursing incresead as a consequence of the migration of graduate nurses, in greater numbers to the Southeast region of the country, and also of large investments, especially those conducted by the Special Public Health Service (SESP). Among the schools created in this period, one would become more prominent in the Brazilian nursing scenario, the current EEUSP, then called the São Paulo School of Nursing⁽¹⁷⁾.

In the process of creating the current EEUSP, the north-American nurse Ella Hansejaeger, representing SESP, and Edith M. Fraenkel were involved. The nursing faculty had Brazilian nurses who had Graduate in the United States and in national schools such as the EAN. However, although EAN-certified nurses also participated in the faculty of the new school, what actually occurred was the emergence of another model of nursing education, outside the leadership of the “standard school”⁽⁶⁾.

EEUSP was the school that received the most of SESP investments due to factors such as: the location in a state of significant economic development and the assistance of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (USP) willing to participate in the creation of the new School of Nursing⁽¹²⁾. This movement gave EEUSP important symbolic capital, converted from the invested economic capital.

Still in the midst of the expansion of schools of nursing in Brazil, in 1944, in the city of Niterói-RJ, the creation of the School of Nursing of the State of Rio de Janeiro (EEERJ), currently School of Nursing Aurora Afonso Costa, from the Fluminense Federal University; and, in 1948, the creation of the School of Nursing of the Federal District City Hall (EEPDF), currently the School of Nursing at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).

Rio de Janeiro was the space where “the symbolic struggles took place through strategic positions of the various competing groups” of nursing. In this space, the EAN was organized by the Parsons Mission/Rockefeller Foundation, with the intention of becoming a “nucleus of diffusion of the USA ideals”⁽¹⁷⁾. However, at the beginning of the Vargas Era, also known as the Brazilian New State, the School changed its position, joining the Church and the Vargas Government. In addition, the first three schools created after the EAN and assimilated in 1942 had Catholic orientation⁽¹⁷⁾.

Nursing groups then were characterized, mainly, by two groups of schools of nursing. A group that adopted “the directives of the Church of nationalistic and Christian character” and the other group “in favor of a close cooperation between Brazil and the United States”⁽¹⁷⁾. In this division, Laís Netto dos Reys was the director of EAN, from the first group; and Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel, director of EEUSP, was included in the second⁽¹⁷⁾. As a result of this division, the groups stood in opposition on the Rio-São Paulo axis, presenting different political positions.

The reconfiguration of the field of nursing education prompted by the support of SESP threatened the leadership of EAN, and certainly the convening of the Board of Directors by Laís Netto dos Reys represented a strategy to strengthen the status of EAN; as the whole field consists of a field of forces and a field of struggle to maintain or transform this force field⁽¹⁸⁾, that is, Lais sought to preserve EAN’s position of power in the field of Nursing.

The forum called Meeting of Directors of Schools of Nursing took place between the years 1943 and 1946. The intention was to broaden the participation of Brazilian nurses in the process of reorganizing of nursing education. The main point of divergence was the issue of equating schools of nursing. Mother Domineuc, of the São Paulo Hospital School of Nursing, and Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel were the main critics of this process, corroborating the position of SESP, which had as one of its objectives to analyze and modify the criteria adopted for the official recognition of schools of nursing, that is, the equivalence, until this moment attributed to the EAN by Decree no. 20.109 of 1931^(19-20).

The manifested oppositions in the field of nursing education reverberated in ABED, as both Laís Netto dos Reys and Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel occupied positions of power and prestige in important educational institutions and were recognized in ABED, whose president at the time was Edith Fraenkel; and Laís Netto dos Reys, director of EAN, birthplace of ABED. In this context, ABED, which had been born and maintained its operations at EAN, left its premises in 1941, when it first moved to the Social Work Service in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, founded by Nurse Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel. The departure of the Association from the EAN premises was a reason for protest by Laís Netto dos Reys⁽²⁾.

Other changes regarding address occurred in the subsequent years, but the headquarters never left the city of Rio de Janeiro, as determined by the Statute, in its 3^rd Article, that ABED should have “headquarters and legal jurisdiction in the Federal Capital and for an indefinite period of time”⁽²¹⁾.

The financial crisis within ABED was mainly due to the low number of associates, which was aggravated during the Second World War. President Zaíra Cintra Vidal, in a meeting held in 1944, reported that at that time the Association had only 60 associate nurses settled with the treasury, and that this low number could lead to its disengagement from CIE⁽²⁾. The number of associates corresponding to 1944 was not found. However, in the report on the ABED activities presented by President Zaíra at the end of her first term (1943-1945), the number consisted of 172 nurses⁽¹⁾.

The financial crisis was also reflected in the ABED journal, which presented difficulties in publishing, mainly due to the cost of paper for the printing of the editions. This paper was imported and represented a very high cost for the journal, which, since its creation, presented irregularity with the publications. In 1941, the publications were interrupted, and they were resumed only in 1946 and, again, with some irregularity. Only in 1948, the journal would be published in three annual editions and regularly⁽²⁾.

Considering this scenario, in 1944, the president and the nurses Marina Bandeira de Oliveira and Rosaly Rodrigues Taborda began a plan to reorganize ABED and to strengthen it. This plan culminated in the elaboration of a new statute in 1944, which incorporated provisions on the official creation of the Nursing and Public Health Nursing divisions “in order to facilitate the study and participation of nurses in the various branches of nursing”⁽²⁾.

The provisions on the creation of the sections were not part of the modifications incorporated into the 1944 statute. Hence, two years later, in 1946, under the second management of Zaíra Cintra Vidal (1945-1947) at ABED, a new reform of the statute was necessary to incorporate an important modification into the main document of the Association, which would be the insertion of the sections. Thus, “the issue of the ‘creation of sections or nuclei’ in ABED was discussed for the first time when the ‘Nucleus of the Federal District’ was created on November 7^th, 1946”⁽²⁾.

However, Zaíra Cintra Vidal, in her report entitled “Activities of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses, from September 1^st, 1943 to August 31^st, 1945” lists the works that were performed upon returning from the USA in March of 1944, and among them, the 11^th was the “Organizations of State Sections”⁽¹⁾. This demonstrates that, even before the proposal was presented at the 1946 meeting, the subject of sections was already being studied within ABED.

ANA, since its inception in 1896, already had an increasingly concern about raising the number of licensed nurses, since these nurses represented only 10% of the active nurses at the time. To this end, and in order to work in accordance with the state laws so that there was a greater control of nursing as a profession, the state associations of nurses were organized. The first ones, in 1901; and in 1921 ANA already had 43 state associations⁽²²⁾.

According to ANA’s example, ABED, which had been created after the American models, only allowed graduate nurses — therefore, holders of symbolic titles, that is, titles of distinction, which represent a symbolic capital. This strategy, used by the two associations, characterized the formation of an elite within the field of Nursing, which would bring more prestige and advantages of recognition, benefits that are given to the holders of this symbolic capital⁽¹⁸⁾.

Upon contact with this experience, Zaíra realized the difficulty of bringing nurses from all over Brazil into a single association, located in the capital, especially considering the territorial dimension of the country. In 1942, a group of nurses engaged with EEUSP and the Hospital das Clínicas, in São Paulo, was already articulated to organize an Association of Nursing in São Paulo⁽²⁾. The first attempt dates from 1943, as it appears in the document of the section “Notes for the history of ABEn – Section of São Paulo”, but the idea was not fulfilled in neither of the two dates⁽¹¹⁾.

This movement was resumed in 1944, when a statute of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses was elaborated, which was sent to ABED for approval. The date of approval of the statute of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses presents divergence. According to Carvalho⁽²⁾, Edith Fraenkel, in a report presented at the First National Nursing Congress (CNE), reported that the statute had been approved in 1945, and the activities began in October of that year. However, in a publication of the Annals of Nursing, the date of approval of the statute appears as September 18^th, 1946.

In the first chapter of the register of the statute of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses, published in the Official Gazette of the State of São Paulo no. 62, on March 20^th, 1946, page 26, it is stated that the Paulista Association was a “juridical entity affiliated to the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of Rio de Janeiro, but completely autonomous and with its own patrimony”⁽²⁾. The idea of affiliation to ABED shows the willingness to create an independent association, since “several times in the history of the Section there is a suggestion of transforming it into an independent association”⁽¹¹⁾.

The denomination of the section, “Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses”, was also object of discussion. This denomination was chosen by Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel, but Haydée Guanais Dourado, in a specific meeting held for that purpose, in 1945, even against the majority of those present, defended the denomination of ABED for the state sections. Haydée argued that sections that were created should retain the name ABED plus the word “section” and the name of the state where they were created⁽²⁾.

Thus, according to Haydée, through the name, that is, through the sections, the Association would have its union maintained and its strength increased: “it was the use of one name that maintained the strength of ABED and its unity in work”⁽²⁾. The maintenance of an independent state association posed a threat to the union of Brazilian nurses, as presented by nurse Haydée Guanais Dourado, who were at risk of being divided into different associations. Then, in face of this situation, a change in the structure of ABED was necessary, in order to avoid this division.

The acceptance of Haydée’s suggestion acted as a kind of guidance to the order, because the intonation of her presence, as well as the symbolic efficacy of her words, in face of her symbolic capital, symbolized the social structure from which the efficiency of her own words emanated. In other words, the illocutionary force consists in the symbolic efficacy of words, by means of the relative position of the sender and receiver in the hierarchy of the volume and weight of the different capitals, as well as of the limits inscribed in the relationship itself⁽¹⁸⁾. The power that individuals or groups hold is proportional to their capital, that is, it is in accordance with the recognition they receive from the group.

The position of Zaíra Cintra Vidal is interesting, the founding partner of the “Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses”, for, at the time, she was the president of ABED. This fact corroborates even more to the weight of the position that Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel occupied, in the field of Nursing, and more precisely within ABED. This is due to the accumulation of her capital, as well as of her acquired habitus along her trajectory in ABED, initiated in the position of the first president of the Association.

At the ABED meeting held on September 4^th, 1946, which had 27 associates present, the name of the Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses had already been changed to the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Section of São Paulo. However, taking into account the dates that point to more than one year of operation of this entity, since 1945, a significant time in relation to its autonomy before ABED is evident.

The creation of an association in São Paulo in 1945 prompted ABED to accelerate the process of creating sections, which had already been previously considered by its president, Zaíra Cintra Vidal (1943-1947), as a result of the observation of the American model of associations, as aforementioned in this article, in ABED’s report.

Thus, the movement to create the Federal District Section, the second section to be created, occurred in conjunction with the insertion of the provisions on the sections of the ABED statute of 1946, representing, as part of the same process, a strategy undertaken by the Association to maintain its unity.

DISCUSSION

The first reported attempts in relation to the technical-scientific development and contribution to the organization of the field of the profession are linked to the projects conducted by its first class entity, namely: the Brazilian Association of Nursing (ABEn). This association represented the profession almost exclusively until the mid-1970s⁽²³⁾.

Ethel Parsons, leader of the Technical Cooperation Mission for the Development of American Nursing in Brazil (Parsons Mission) and responsible for the creation of the School of Nursing of the National Department of Public Health (in 1922), endeavored to help the first graduate nurses to think about the organization of a class entity, in order to care for the interests of the profession and to consolidate the construction of the historical and cultural patrimony of the Brazilian nursing.

In the 1930s, specifically in 1932, one of the first initiatives of the Brazilian Association of Nursing was the creation of a journal, in response to the proposals of the American nurses regarding the social recognition of the profession. The first issue was launched on May 20^th, 1932. This important initiative, in addition to increasing communication among nurses, represented the first space in which they made visible their statements in the Brazilian scenario, addressing topics related to nursing. At the same time it contributed over the years to the formation of a future scientific community of nursing and to the structuring of its scientific field. It is worth emphasizing that the journal, together with CNE, created in the following decade (1947)⁽²⁴⁾, were the first strategies adopted by the Association for the exchange of knowledge and proposals to improve nurses’ performance.

Scientific communication (through journals, events, congresses) is vital for the development of a profession and a science, as through it, the dissemination of knowledge, the interaction between professionals and researchers and the legitimation of the production by the peers take place, inducing the generation of new knowledge. Although in an incipient form, ABEn inaugurates spaces of communication between nursing professionals in favor of the technical-scientific development of the profession, in a context of direct influence of the North American conceptions and actions during the first half of the XX century.

Therefore, the journal represented an important channel of communication, and at the same time also gave visibility to the achievements of ABED in favor of Brazilian nursing, for the relations of communication are always relations of power that depend, in form and content, on material or symbolic power accumulated by the individuals or institutions in and by the field⁽¹⁸⁾. To corroborate this assertion, Issue 21 of this journal is exemplary when it presents the justifications for the reorganization of ABED to create the sections: “In order to work more efficiently, and therefore, produce more, ABED underwent a complete reorganization, fragmenting into smaller groups”⁽²⁵⁾. These justifications are detailed as follows:

a) Creation of new school of nursings. All services, whether regarding public health or hospital care, require well-trained nurses, and in large numbers; b) Distribution of more nurses throughout States; c) Difficulty in transportation and high cost of tickets made it impossible for nurses to attend meetings of the Federal District, being isolated, without information about the activities of the Association⁽²⁵⁾.

The same publication also presented the sections already created until that year, they were: São Paulo, Federal District and Amazon. On the creation of new sections, there was the following recommendation: “In any State, where five graduate nurses may be found, a ‘Section’ may be formed as soon as its internal rules of procedure have been submitted for the approval of ABED”⁽²⁵⁾. The dissemination strategy of this recommendation shows how the communication relations are intertwined with the symbolic interactions, that is, with the recognition of the spokesperson authorized to speak on behalf of the group. For this reason, they are relations of power; as ABED published such a recommendation, it updated the relations of strength between its members and the other groups⁽¹⁸⁾.

In addition, these same determinations started to appear in the Statute of ABED, elaborated in 1946⁽²¹⁾. However, this statute was not Graduate, and it was not found⁽²⁾. Nevertheless, ABED’s alterations to the sections were found in the 1947 Statute, which included in its second chapter: 5^th Art. - The sections, are nuclei of A.B.E.D. functioning in states where there are more than five (5) nurses and whose internal regiments were previously approved by this Association⁽²¹⁾. The need for the approval of the Internal Regulations of the sections by ABED, contained in the above-mentioned information of the Annals of Nursing and in 5^th article of the 1947 Statute, ratifies the dependence of the sections on ABED, reflecting the union between them.

In the 1947 Statute, in which provisions about the sections of ABED had already been incorporated, was described in the 6^th article, single paragraph: Nurses who are in states or municipalities in which there is not yet a nucleus of this Association, may join the Federal District Section or to that which is nearest⁽²¹⁾. This determination in the article denotes the importance of the section within the scope of ABED, for at a time when there were already four sections, associates from other states that had no sections could be linked to the newly created section in the Federal District, which it was also the headquarters of ABED. This strategy highlights the importance of an association in the federal capital as the capital is the place of capital, that is, it is the physical space where most agents occupying dominant positions are concentrated, functioning as a kind of spontaneous symbolization of space⁽¹⁸⁾.

Although ABED’s president already planned to create nuclei of the Association, influenced by the American model of associations, the initiative of São Paulo, indicating a possible fragmentation, as observed by the nurse Haydée Guanais Dourado, certainly accelerated the process of creating sections. Thus, this initiative shows the rupture with the established order, that is, the occurrence of a heretical subversion through the rupture with the incorporated structures and with the objective structures of which the former are a product of⁽¹⁸⁾. These heretic situations arise in times of crisis, that is, in extraordinary situations, which represent well the period of creation of this affiliated association that had as background the end of the Second World War and the financial crisis installed in ABED itself.

In addition, the creation of sections of the Brazilian Association of Nursing in the states was a successful strategy of the association, which contributed to the organization of the nursing field, as in the professions environment, correlations of specific forces coexist (due to the symbolic power of each agent). In this context, nursing leaders, making use of their symbolic capital and from a habitus (internalization of external determinations), had to undertake a symbolic struggle to transform reality aiming to impose an organization of the social world more in accordance with the interests of nursing.

Study limitations

The study limitation was the impossibility of interviewing the nurses who participated in the process of creation and implantation of the Brazilian Association of Graduate Nurses of the Federal District Section in the face of the time elapsed, that is, 70 years, due to them having already passed away. This impossibility prevented the triangulation with other sources of the study.

Study contributions to Nursing

As a conclusion, it is important to emphasize the contributions of the study to nursing, especially to the History of Nursing and Health, since knowledge about the historical trajectory of nursing organizational entities works as the reminder of its political and social importance as well as its relevance to the Brazilian population, which makes use of health services, in which nursing plays a leading role.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

The creation of a school of nursing that competed with EAN, coupled with the crisis that ABED was experiencing in the midst of the Second World War, certainly prompted a movement towards the creation of an association with the intention of being affiliated with ABED, but autonomous. This movement coincided with the administration of Edith de Magalhães Fraenkel in the direction of EEUSP and with her resignation from the presidency of ABED, after her second administration in 1943.

On one hand, the Association’s crisis influenced this process; on the other hand, the process of creating the “Paulista Association of Graduate Nurses” brought about an important change in the ABED scenario, impelling it to a reaction, aiming to unify nursing and to ensure its existence as an representative entity of the profession.

Thus, in view of the creation of a state association, ABED, strategies to revise its Statute were pursued in order to guarantee its unity with the insertion of sections and the creation of a section in the Federal District, therefore ensuring ABED’s position of power and prestige in the field of nursing. In this context, in a same geographic space that works as a social space, there are two associations, ABED and ABED of the Section of Distrito Federal. This effort of nursing leaders from Brazil and Rio de Janeiro reflected, even in a moment of global conflict, the contribution of the Brazilian Association of Nursing in the construction of a democratic society.

REFERENCES

• ¹
  Vidal ZC. Atividades da Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas, no período de 1 de setembro de 1943 a 31 de agosto de 1945. Relatório. Rio de Janeiro, 1945. Relatório. Mimeografado. In: Centro de Memória da Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem: Caixa 4. Data Limite: 1943-1945. Gestão Zaíra Cintra Vidal (1º gestão). 001 Organização e Funcionamento.
• ²
  Carvalho AC. Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem: 1926-1976: documentário. 2 ed. Brasília: ABEn Nacional; 2008.
• ³
  Silva NAR, Santos RMS, Macedo AC, Costa LMC, Santos JFE. [The struggle for civil organization of nursing of the Alagoas: the creation of Brazilian Association of Nursing-AL (1962-1965)]. Hist enferm Rev Eletron[Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Oct 22];6(1):21-36. Available from: http://here.abennacional.org.br/here/2_AO_05015_MM.pdf Portuguese.
  » http://here.abennacional.org.b
• ⁴
  Malta DV, Santos TCF, Pereira LA, Gomes MLB, Lopes GT, Oliveira AB. Survey of resources and needs of the professional nursing practice in Brazil: strategies for its implementation. Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm[Internet]. 2014[cited 2015 Jul 12];18(3):472-8. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v18n3/en_1414-8145-ean-18-03-0472.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v18n3/en_1414-8145-ean-18-03-0472.pdf
• ⁵
  Cabral IE, Almeida Filho AJ. 85 years of ABEn® and 80 of REBEn® promoting the scientific and professional development of Brazilian Nursing. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2013[cited 2015 Nov 03];66(spe):13-23. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v66nspe/v66nspea02.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v66nspe/v66nspea02.pdf
• ⁶
  Carvalho V. Sobre a Associação Brasileira de enfermagem: 85 anos de história: pontuais avanços e conquistas, contribuições marcantes, e desafios. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2012[cited 2014 Oct 15];65(2):207-14. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v65n2/v65n2a02.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v65n2/v65n2a02.pdf
• ⁷
  Santos TCF. [The ABEn and the professional memory preserving: the Brazilian Nursing Memory Centre implantation]. Rev Bras Enferm [Internet]. 2013[cited 2015 Oct 15];66(spe):165-70. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v66nspe/v66nspea21.pdf Portuguese.
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v66nspe/v66nspea21.pdf
• ⁸
  Pereira LA, Santos TCF. The pioneering role of the brazilian nursing association in research development: from the journal to the research center. Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm[Internet]. 2013[cited 2015 Oct 15];17(3):526-33. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n3/en_1414-8145-ean-17-03-0526.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n3/en_1414-8145-ean-17-03-0526.pdf
• ⁹
  Garcia TR. Conquistas da REBEn. Rev Bras Enferm [Internet]. 2011[cited 2015 Oct 18];64(5):807-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v64n5/en_a01v64n5.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v64n5/en_a01v64n5.pdf
• ¹⁰
  Mancia JR, Padilha MICS. [The trajectory of Edith Magalhães Fraenkel]. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2006 [cited 2014 Aug 12];59(esp):432-7. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v59nspe/v59nspea09.pdf Portuguese.
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v59nspe/v59nspea09.pdf
• ¹¹
  Arone EM, Ferreira ETR, Canavezzi R, Chaccur MIB. Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem: seção São Paulo notas sobre as contribuições para a enfermagem brasileira. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2001[cited 2015 Oct 15];54(2):364-81. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v54n2/v54n2a25.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v54n2/v54n2a25.pdf
• ¹²
  Barreira IA, Baptista SS. [Haydée Guanais Dourado: charisma and personality towards an ideal]. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2002[cited 2015 Jun 23];55(3):275-92. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v55n3/v55n3a07.pdf Portuguese.
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v55n3/v55n3a07.pdf
• ¹³
  Barros JD. A fonte histórica e seu lugar de produção. Cad Pesq. Cdhis, Uberlândia [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2016 Oct 2];25(2):407-29. Available from: http://www.seer.ufu.br/index.php/cdhis/article/view/15209/11834
  » http://www.seer.ufu.br/index.php/cdhis/article/view/15209/11834
• ¹⁴
  Padilha MICS, Borenstein MS. O método de pesquisa histórica na enfermagem. Texto Contexto Enferm [Internet]. 2005[cited 2014 Apr 17];14(4):575-584. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v14n4/a15v14n4.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v14n4/a15v14n4.pdf
• ¹⁵
  Abreu MSA, Haddad VCN, Costa LMC, Teixeira KRB, Peres MAA, Santos TCF. First officer nurses of the military police of the state of Rio de Janeiro (1994-1995): incorporation of military habitus. Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm[Internet]. 2015[cited 2015 Dec 20];19(4):535-41. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v19n4/en_1414-8145-ean-19-04-0535.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v19n4/en_1414-8145-ean-19-04-0535.pdf
• ¹⁶
  Teixeira KRB, Peres MAA, Pereira LA, Costa LMC, Haddad VCN, Santos TCF. Segundo seminário nacional de pesquisa em enfermagem: prioridades de linhas de pesquisa na área (1982). Hist Enferm Rev Eletron[Internet]. 2016 [cited 2017 Jan 15];7(2):440-8. Available from: http://here.abennacional.org.br/here/2a06.pdf
  » http://here.abennacional.org.br/here/2a06.pdf
• ¹⁷
  Barreira IA, Sauthier J, Baptista SS. O movimento associativo das enfermeiras diplomadas brasileiras na 1ª metade do século 20. Rev Bras Enferm[Internet]. 2001[cited 2015 Jun 23];54(2)157-73. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v54n2/v54n2a02.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v54n2/v54n2a02.pdf
• ¹⁸
  Bourdieu, P. O Poder Simbólico. São Paulo: Bertrand Brasil; 2006.
• ¹⁹
  Almeida Filho AJ, Santos TCF, Baptista SS, Lourenço LHSC. Reunião de diretoras de escolas de enfermagem: um cenário de lutas simbólicas no campo da educação em enfermagem (1943-1945). Texto Contexto Enferm[Internet]. 2005 [cited 2015 Mar 23];14(4):528-36. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v14n4/a09v14n4.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/tce/v14n4/a09v14n4.pdf
• ²⁰
  Santos TCF, Oliveira AB, Gomes MLB, Peres MAA, Almeida Filho AJ, Abrão FMS. Patriotic and religious rituals: contribution to Brazilian and Spanish identity of nurses (1937-1945). Esc Anna Nery Rev Enferm[Internet]. 2013 [cited 2015 Oct 15];17(1):104-10. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n1/15.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n1/15.pdf
• ²¹
  Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas. Estatuto da Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem, 1947. In: Centro de Memória da Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem: Caixa 03, Estatutos da ABEn (Cópias). Versões anteriores.
• ²²
  American Nurses Association. Historical Review. [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2014 Nov 13]. Available from: http://nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA/History/BasicHistoricalReview.pdf
  » http://nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/AboutANA/History/BasicHistoricalReview.pdf
• ²³
  Santos JFE, Santos RM, Costa LMC, Almeida LMWS, Macêdo AC, Santos TCF. The importance of civilian nursing organizations: integrative literature review. Rev Bras Enferm [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2017 Jan 18];69(3):610-18. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v69n3/en_0034-7167-reben-69-03-0610.pdf
  » http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v69n3/en_0034-7167-reben-69-03-0610.pdf
• ²⁴
  Santos TM, Silva BT, Miranda JS, Guimarães JCS, Aparibense PGGS, Peres MAA. Contribuições da Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem para a Enfermagem Psiquiátrica: um olhar sobre os Congressos Brasileiros de Enfermagem (1947-1981). Hist Enferm Rev Eletron[Internet]. 2016 [cited 2017 Jan 15];7(2):406-22. Available from: http://here.abennacional.org.br/here/2a04.pdf
  » http://here.abennacional.org.br/here/2a04.pdf
• ²⁵
  Associação Brasileira de Enfermeiras Diplomadas. Anais de Enfermagem. 1946;15(21):35. In: Centro de Documentação da Escola de Enfermagem Anna Nery. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro: Módulo PU, Caixa 03, Ano Déc. 40, Origem: Publicação, Conteúdo: Anais de Enfermagem.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Sep-Oct 2017

History

• Received
  13 Mar 2017
• Accepted
  17 Apr 2017