STUDENT UNIFORMS IN A BRAZILIAN NURSING SCHOOL: ITS RELATION WITH PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY (1947-1965)

Abstract

Objectives:

To describe the clothing/uniform worn by the students of the Hermantina Beraldo Nursing School (HBNS) and to analyze its relation to professional identity building in graduate nurses from this school in the period 1947-1965.

Method:

Historical and social study. Written, iconographic and oral sources of data were delivered by former students and former school teachers for this study. The data analysis was financed by the authors addressing the concepts of professional identity and uniforms in nursing schools.

Results:

We identified the following category: Clothing/uniforms in the first years of the HBNS: their role in professional identity building (1947-1964). The colors and accessories of both the hospital uniform and the uniform worn by students at public health care establishments remained similar to those worn at the sponsor school Anna Nery School of Nursing.

Conclusions:

The uniforms worn at the HBNS became a symbol for this school's graduates at that time, which led to the creation of an institutional, social and professional identity.