The history of nursing is a history of the art of care, which includes non-care experiences; thus it must be viewed as a history that is not yet united. The development of a specific field of epistemology, able to integrate sparse studies concerning history, nursing, and the art of care is an epistemological demand. The objective of this study is to present a proposition for a field of study for historical and historical-graphic studies of the art of care in Brazil. The objective was achieved through the dialogue between Explanatory History and Interpretive Methodology from Willhelm Guillerme Dilthey's Historical School. The sources used in this study arose from the developments of the author's Master's Thesis in Nursing. The purpose of this study is to create and point out that Historical Review as a sub-field in the science of care in Brazil is able to contextualize nursing and redefine its history, instituting education in care.
Nursing; History of nursing; History