The present study proposes a new approach to the feminine origins of nursing, utilizing an archetypical framework, analysing the features of this profession which has changed very little along its history. The article advocates that nursing characteristics are the result of a collective unconscious, that is, a primitive model of innate ideas. The perspective adopted for a feminine archetype in this investigation are related to the historical and social basis of nursing, as well as, with its pre-defined objective which is caring. Utilizing their own professional experience throughout the years, the authors identity that the essence of the nursing profession is caring and that this act, which involves protecting, promoting and preserving the human being, is basically associated to women. Based on these reflections, the authors advocate the idea nurses have an individual conscience that is influenced by a collective unconscious which is inherited.
feminine archetype; nursing; care