Programa Nacional de Imunizações e Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (1973-1977): história e reflexos na formação do enfermeiro

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Given the 50-year history of the National Immunization Program, the role of nurses as professionals responsible for planning, organizing, executing, and evaluating vaccination activities stands out. Nurses' dominance over vaccination actions among other health professionals in the multidisciplinary health team suggests that they hold technical authority and autonomy in this field of knowledge. OBJECTIVES: Historicize the social context of health and vaccination in Belo Horizonte between 1973 and 1977; Characterize nurse training in relation to vaccination by EEUFMG (1973–1977); Analyze the EEUFMG's (1973–1977) training of nurses with regard to vaccination through the Sociology of Professions lens. METHODS: We conducted research in the field of history with a historical-social dimension, integrating approaches from oral history and textual history into the domain of nursing history. We used documents from the Memory Center of the Nursing School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais's collection as direct sources, as well as clippings from the newspapers "Diário da Tarde" that address nurse training, vaccination, and public health from 1973 to 1977. For the production of oral sources, we followed the thematic oral history, based on semi-structured interviews with professors of the nursing course at the Nursing School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais between 1973 and 1977, in subjects related to public health and collective health. We recorded and transcribed the interviews, subjecting them to both internal structural and external criticism, just like the documents. For the data analysis, we adopted a qualitative perspective and the theoretical framework of Eliot Freidson's Sociology of Professions. RESULTS: Nurse training related to vaccination by EEUFMG (1973–1977) consisted of a dynamic process with constant incorporation of scientific knowledge and current legislation relevant to the scope of training—prevention and health promotion focused on the community. As a structuring pillar, training was based on theoretical-practical inseparability and service-teaching integration (promoted by extramural activities). In this way, the nurse's specialized knowledge about vaccination was built through the integration of technical-scientific knowledge from the pre-professional cycle, and theoretical-practical knowledge from the professional core, combined with knowledge of the specific needs of the territory. CONCLUSION: The expertise of nurses who graduated from the EEUFMG between 1973 and 1977 on vaccination is expressed in addition to the prevention and promotion of the collective health of vulnerable populations, such as in the defense of quality public health. EEUFMG's credentials as a professional school are reinforced, by its nursing education based on dynamic vaccination, though attentive to its main role in transmitting the formal essence of nurses' expertise on vaccination.