THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE UFPR NURSING COURSE: WHAT DO WE WANT FOR THE NEXT 50 YEARS?HIGHLIGHTS
The Golden Jubilee of the UFPR nursing course.
Celebrating five decades of contributing to quality of life and social transformation.
Vision for the future with a focus on innovation and quality in classroom teaching.
Commitment to Excellence and Humanization in continuing the ideals of the profession for the next 50 years.
HIGHLIGHTS
Jubileu de Ouro do curso de enfermagem da UFPR.
Celebração de cinco décadas de contribuição para a qualidade de vida e transformação social.
Visão para o Futuro com foco em inovação e qualidade do ensino presencial.
Compromisso com a Excelência e Humanização na continuidade dos ideais da profissão nos próximos 50 anos.
ASPECTOS DESTACADOS
Jubileo de oro del programa de enfermería de la UFPR.
Celebración de cinco décadas de contribución a la calidad de vida y a la transformación social.
Visión de futuro con foco en la innovación y calidad de la enseñanza presencial.
Compromiso con la excelencia y la humanización para continuar con los ideales de la profesión durante los próximos 50 años.
Nursing at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) is celebrating its Golden Jubilee! Initiatives to create a Nursing course at UFPR began after the inauguration of the Hospital de Clínicas (HC, in Portuguese) in 19611. The regulations established that the Nursing Sub-Division should be led by a nurse, with technical guidance from the Nursing School. For almost 13 years, the nurses worked to create the course. On November 29, 1973, the Sectorial Council of the Health Sciences Sector approved the proposal and formed a committee to draw up the Plan for Structuring the Nursing Course2.
On March 11, 1974, the committee presented the structural plan for the new course. On May 27, 1974, Resolution No. 04/74 of the Teaching and Research Council (CEPE) authorized the creation and implementation of the Nursing Course in UFPR’s Health Sciences Sector2. The first entrance exam took place in 1975, offering 40 places. The course was recognized in 1979, with 3,750 lessons.
Since then, we have trained 1,677 professionals. The current curriculum covers 4,100 lessons, spread over 10 terms. The subjects are offered with the support of 17 UFPR departments, with the Nursing Department being responsible for the professional and internship blocks.
The undergraduate course has brought other demands, challenges, and achievements, including the creation of lato and stricto sensu postgraduate courses, as well as scientific journals2. UFPR Nursing graduates with master’s and doctorate in two stricto sensu postgraduate programs operate in multi-professional residencies and contribute to scientific dissemination in the journal Cogitare Enfermagem.
At the time of its golden jubilee, the undergraduate course has 328 students and 66 active undergraduate teachers, of whom only 33 are permanent teachers in the Nursing Department. In the evaluations, it was recognized as the 8th-best nursing course in Brazil and the 1st-best course in Paraná. The journal Cogitare Enfermagem is indexed in Scopus and, around “nursing,” in the 2023 ranking presented in 2024, it is ranked 5th in Brazil and 7th in Latin America.
The jubilee year began on June 27, 2023. We carried out monthly activities with different focuses, involving the entire academic community. On May 27, 2024, we held the Jubilee solemnity, with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and an event on the achievements of these five decades of history. At the end of the celebrations, a get-together brought together 200 graduates and teachers, from the first graduating class to the last decade.
Involvement in representing the category in spaces such as the Brazilian Nursing Association and the Regional Nursing Council is an outstanding feature. Political recognition of the course’s contribution to society also marked the celebrations. Solemn sessions in the Curitiba City Council and the Paraná Legislative Assembly, as well as tributes and votes of applause in the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, emphasized the importance of the course in training professionals. They strive to offer quality health care to the population and to consolidate the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, in Portuguese) in Paraná and Brazil.
Throughout this jubilee year, we revisit the past and reflect on the future - what do we want for the next 50 years? We want to continue contributing to the training of qualified nurses who are committed to overcoming professional shortages in deprived areas, and who advocate interprofessional work in health teams as best practice, respecting all professional categories and users of health services. We want them to act as leaders in formulating policies, managing crises, and developing clinical, managerial, ethical, and political skills to tackle wage and gender inequalities, seeking better working conditions, pay, and rest. The University should be the link for cohesive, joint, and integrated practices between entities representing nursing, health services, and the community.
It is essential to guarantee face-to-face teaching and the maintenance of gratuity and quality in public universities. Realistic simulation practices, with the use of cutting-edge technologies and virtual reality, benefit training, but do not dispense with or replace interaction between human beings. In addition, limiting the number of hours that lecturers can work per week to a maximum of 12 hours in direct teaching activities, with groups of no more than five students in practical classes, is essential to: reduce current sickness, increase the potential for research and extension, and participation in university management in prominent positions in the formulation of planning and actions, to benefit nursing and the entire academic community with equity, democratically and ethically, to maintain the three university pillars: teaching, research and extension, as well as achieving the fourth pillar, innovation.
In the next 50 years, research and extension must have an even greater impact on the community’s quality of life. Postgraduate courses, both academic and professional, must strengthen the science of nursing, aligning themselves with theoretical and scientific foundations and producing knowledge with a social and technological impact that meets social demands, without focusing exclusively on market interests. The integration of the University with the contexts of professional practice should bring economic, social, and cultural benefits; in addition to fostering advanced practices in Nursing and the internationalization of research, highlighting the profession’s leading role in health promotion.
For the next half-century, the journal Cogitare Enfermagem should continue to be indexed in the databases with the greatest global impact, with publications in languages that position it as a protagonist in the scientific dissemination of Brazilian nursing. Contributing in an agile way to the translation of published knowledge, at the forefront of national and international updates in scientific communication.
We are celebrating five decades dedicated to training professionals committed to people’s quality of life and social transformation. We face future challenges with the confidence that we will continue to make a difference, maintaining the ideals of the profession and carrying the commitment to excellence, care, and humanization. Here’s to another 50 years of struggle, growth, and achievements!
References
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1 Seraphim GB, Mazza VA, Labronici LM, Nakayama MY, Polonio V, Mayer E. Federal University of Paraná nursing course twentieth anniversary and its graduates trajectory. R. Bras. Enferm. [Internet]. 1996 [cited 2024, June 01]; 49(3):409-424. Available from: scielo.br/j/reben/a/C5q4TW3pDpjbSQSH3SvP3ns/?format=pdf⟨=pt
» scielo.br/j/reben/a/C5q4TW3pDpjbSQSH3SvP3ns/?format=pdf⟨=pt -
2 Seraphim GB. Revisinting nursing at the Federal University of Paraná and the Journal Cogitare - Enfermagem. Cogitare Enferm. [Internet]. 1996 [cited 2024, June 01]; 1(1):99-102. Available from: https://revistas.ufpr.br/cogitare/article/view/44960
» https://revistas.ufpr.br/cogitare/article/view/44960
