The objective of this reflective paper is to relate the trajectory of Prof. Dr. Maria Cecília Puntel de Almeida with the most recent history of nursing, pointing out her contribution to the comprehension of nursing as work. Over the last forty years she has dedicated her study and practice to preparing nursing researchers, to building Brazilian healthcare reform, to consolidating a political perspective of Brazilian nursing in the process of building healthcare and democratic nursing practice, and to preparing nurses to be involved with changes in nursing practice and healthcare services. Her publications constitute a nursing benchmark as a result of historical, social, economical and cultural relationships. We conclude that her legacy is the product and a producer of the Brazilian nursing involvement movement in the causes of democracy and healthcare as a right.
History of nursing; Nursing in public healthcare; Brazilian Healthcare System