Nurses for the new province: The Provincial School of Nursing "Joaquin A. Ferro" (1955-1976)

Abstract

The nascent province Eva Perón, emerged between 1951 and 1953, establishes, among its first laws, the foundation, in May 1955, of a School of Nursing to initiate the training of auxiliary technical personnel "effective collaborator of the doctor and the patient". Repealed in May 1956, despite "considering the creation of a School of the designated type necessary", its importance was maintained in the achievement of the progress made in the new province; In this way, in the project for the creation of the provincial University in 1958, the establishment of a new specific training entity for nurses was foreseen. Without effective concretion within the incipient provincial university institutional frame, the provincial State determined its installation the 26 of August of 1960, with the Law N º199, under the orbit of the Ministry of Social Subjects, Undersecretary of Public Health and Social Welfare. The evolution of this institution of vocational training, crossed by the political swings of the national and provincial scene, however, allows us to delve into a series of aspects of the local society in the second half of the 20th century. In the first place, the constitution of the provincial State and its intervention in certain areas, the health and well-being of the population, as responsible and guarantor. Second, the realization of public policies, in dialogue with international discourses, which established "development" as a goal and measure of progress. Finally, the validity of a conception of care and assistance, as feminine spaces, extension to other members of society of the traditional roles of mothers and wives. This process was accompanied by a fading of the importance of female functions performed in these areas; which were integrated into a hierarchical work structure, dominated by men, under the label of collaboration and complementation.