Social - historical study. Objectives: to analyze the importance of memory in the construction of professional identity and discuss the key challenges for research in nursing history, relating to the preservation and dissemination of professional memory. Primary data: annual reports of activities of the Anna Nery School of Nursing and the article "Memory and History for a new vision of Nursing in Brazil", by Ieda de Alencar Barreira. Secondary data: literature about memory and professional identity. The data, collected from June 1, 2009 to May 30, 2010, were classified, organized and analyzed according to the historical method. Results: the Brazilian nursing, throughout the twentieth century, used symbols and rituals as reference points to raise and sanctify the memory of the profession and thus express and impress, whether intentional or implicitly, an identity of nurse. We conclude that the symbiosis of memory and professional identity leads to the need for its preservation.
Nursing; History of Nursing; Emblems and Insignia; Nursing Research