A first step in the professionalisation of nursing
Nursing School Building.
The inauguration of the School of Nursing marked a first step toward the professionalisation of this field of work. It helped to shape a more modern perspective of the nursing profession and ensured that all nurses acquired knowledge they had not all previously possessed.
The School of Nursing had its own curriculum and a pioneering system of operation. This made it possible to establish a hierarchical structure for nursing within the Hospital and create the first Nursing Directorate.
In the early years, the working day was split into three shifts: morning, afternoon and night. In late 1965, however, this changed to two 12-hour shifts in response to the employees’ difficulty in getting to the hospital due to its distance from the city centre. A bus service from Plaça Catalunya transported employees to the hospital. When the School of Nursing first opened, nurses worked 12-hour shifts on three alternating days, with irregular days off on public holidays.
At the time, the nurse uniform incorporated skirts and caps. Nurses played an auxiliary role and were clearly subordinate to doctors. Everything has changed since then, and nursing is now considered a profession with its own clearly defined functions. A key turning point in this transformation was the official recognition of nursing studies as a university diploma in 1977. While this marked a major leap forward, there was still a long way to go until nursing roles were fully developed and the profession achieved full recognition.
