EDITORIAL
Special edition: 30 years of the Nursing Graduate Program (PEN) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil (UFSC)
In 2006, the Nursing Graduate Program at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil PEN/UFSC completed its 30th year of existence. As part of the commemorations, the Graduate Program organized the III International Seminar of Philosophy and Health Care III SEFIS. From the collection of the scientific production presented and debated at the event, this special edition of Text & Context Nursing has resulted. It constitutes a contribution for an update within the reflection for "Care and the Human Living Process".
The worsening of philosophical reflection concerning health care and nursing, given the importance of the current historical occasion, demonstrates the importance of such reflection within the course of the Graduate Program.
Created in 1976, the PEN/UFSC is today a center for knowledge production in health care and nursing, highlighted by the fertility of ideas and theories produced. Such production is the compilation of contributions from multiple perspectives, professionals, theories, and policies geared towards understanding the human living process and its relationship with health care and care practices.
Reflection about the trajectory of the Program's construction necessarily conducts us to the past and to the verification that its history has been written by many hands. The founders of the Program, the diverse executive groups, the professors, the students, the technical-administrators, the scholarship recipients, multiple institutional, national, and international partners, and professional representations such as the Brazilian Nursing Association (Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem) all make up a large part of this history. All have decisively contributed to the maturation of the Program's political-pedagogical proposal and to its expression in Brazilian society and in the academic, national, and international health care scenario.
The creation of the Program initiated in March of 1976 the first class of the "Master's Course in Nursing Adult Health option", with 10 students. The 1980s were highlighted with advances, consolidation, and evaluation. As of 1982, the Program's first five Research Groups were established. In 1986, the Seminar marking the 10-year anniversary of the Graduate Program witnessed the proposal for the creation of the Doctorate Program in Nursing, as well as the modification of the concentration area from "Adult Health" to "Nursing Care". This new area of concentration adopts the perspective of application and evaluation of theoretical references in Nursing practice.
The 1990s marked a historical period within the Program, showing several advances in the expression of scientific production originating from the Program, published in national and international arenas. In 1992, the Doctorate in Nursing Philosophy Course was created. The first class was initiated in March of 1993, with 21 students. The implantation of the course was followed by a permanent process of evaluation, suffering significant changes at the end of 1997, when it assumed a multiprofessional characteristic with two concentration areas. In December of 2000 the program was adjusted to graduate and name health care professionals as "Master's and Doctor's in Nursing" within a single concentration area: "Philosophy, Health Care, and Society", with its central theme for knowledge production concerning care in the human living process.
The 1990s also were marked by the intensifying of structuring its research groups, so that by the end of the decade the Program counted upon 12 of the current 13 nuclei/research groups. They are all registered with the CNPq and function as knowledge production centers, articulated to the Program's eight established Investigative Themes.
Texto & Contexto Nursing was created in 1992, launched its Theses Series in 1996, and was made available online as of May of 2006. These two last initiatives configure themselves as important strategies for the dissemination of scientific production, both originating from the Program and from the scientific health care community.
Concerning its amplitude, historically the Program has maintained a strong regional insertion while simultaneously standing out within the national and international scenes. The major changes and maturations of the 1990s, especially the establishment of multiple inter-institutional partners, have contributed to the intensification of titling Masters and Doctors of Philosophy in Nursing, who in turn have influenced the professional scene in the region and contributed to knowledge production in health care in the country. At the same time, they have intensified these issues within international scientific dialogue. The choice of this solidary and collaborative alternative with inter-institutional partners have contributed to the strengthening the regional faculty resources and towards the creation of five new Nursing Graduate Programs in the region.
The production originated from the Program respond to the needs of scientific rigor in knowledge production and in academia, but also seek to respond to social needs in health care as well as to contribute with innovative proposals for the resolution of problems within the areas of nursing practice, seeking to respond to gaps in current knowledge in health care and in nursing.
This brief synopsis of the activities of the Program throughout its 30 years demonstrates the amplitude of the investment of all those who have helped to construct its history. With this special edition of Text & Context Nursing, we celebrate the fruit of a unified commitment. Such a commitment involves a commitment with the construction of a new society, where valuing human life is the starting point as well as the finish line.
The central theme of the III SEFIS was "Care and the Human Living Process". As such it has offered continuity to a trajectory which started in 1994, with the organization of the First International Seminar of Philosophy and Health. Its central theme was "Health Care as an Ethical Challenge". The second Seminar in 1996 focused upon the reflection of "Epistemology and Health Care".
Organizing international seminars within these themes constitutes a contribution of the PEN/UFSC to the scientific community, providing one more privileged opportunity for keeping up to date with the profession, deepening one's understanding of important themes in the area, and exchanging information and knowledge with colleagues concerning production in philosophy and health care.
The programming of the III SEFIS was organized in six central themes: Ethics and Aesthetics of Care in Health Care; The Nature of Care in Health Care; Philosophy and the Human Living Process; the Meanings of Care; Technologies of Care and its Philosophical Perspectives; and Philosophy and Work in Health Care and Nursing. The content relative to these themes was organized in panels with national and international guests, coordinated sessions with 65 studies, and a poster session with 187 posters selected for display. Of the studies presented during the event, 23 were selected to be published in this special edition of Text & Context Nursing, included some central conferences from the event. Certainly, this reading will bestow a trip around the world of care, in all of its perspectives.
Enjoy!!!
Prof.ª Dr.ª Maria Itayra Coelho de Souza Padilha
Coordinator of the Nursing Graduate Program (PEN) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). President and Treasurer of the III International Seminar of Philosophy and Health Care (SEFIS)
Prof.ª Dr.ª Marta Lenise do Prado
Sub-Coordinator of the Nursing Graduate Program (PEN) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). Vice-President and Treasurer of the III International Seminar of Philosophy and Health Care (SEFIS)
Prof.ª Dr.ª Maria Bettina Camargo Bub
Coordinator of Exchange and Partnerships of the Nursing Graduate Program (PEN) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). President of the Themes and Documentation Commission of the III International Seminar of Philosophy and health Care (SEFIS)
Prof.ª Dr.ª Denise Elvira Pires de Pires
Coordinator of Research and Scientific Production of the Nursing Graduate Program (PEN) of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). Member of the Themes and Documentation Commission of the III International Seminar of Philosophy and health Care (SEFIS)
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
15 Feb 2008 -
Date of issue
2006
