[Depositions by nurses from the 1960s: aids for the understanding of current nursing]

This study is part of a more extensive project that proposes to recover significant aspects related to the evolution of nursing care from 1950s to 1990s. This report is made through the technique of oral declaration by active and retired registered nurses, in the context of an University-hospital from the interior of São Paulo State. The present study emphasizes the outcomes related to 1960s. The results show the effort undertaken by nurses in the struggle for profession's recognition and prestige; intense and deep changes related to nurse's new roles as leaders of the nursing staff and members of the medical team.