The objective of this study was to reconstitute the history of the creation of the Nursing Undergraduate Course at the Medical Sciences School, University of Campinas, occurred in 1978, through an unofficial history, due to the insufficiency of pertinent documental sources. Nurses who participated directly and actively in this process were the subjects of the research. The School of Nursing, legally planned since 1966, was never established. To answer to the minimum necessary organization, it was instituted only one Department of Nursing, four years after the beginning of the course. The interest and the initiative to establish the course started from a titled nurse, outside of the university, hired specifically for this purpose. This fact explains the personal trace, not very institutional, that characterized in a predominant way the moment of creation and continuity of this course.
Nursing; Education, nursing, diploma programs; History