Florence and the environmentalist theory: marks of history in the light of sociology of professions

Abstract

Objective: to reflect on Florence Nightingale and her Environmental Theory as milestones of nursing as a profession and its relationships with the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: reflective text, elaborated in the light of the Sociology of Professions by Eliot Freidson. Results: three reflective categories were outlined, namely “Florence Nightingale: biographical aspects”; “The foundations for the construction of own knowledge and the credibility of nursing as a profession”; "Environmentalist Theory (1859) and pandemic COVID-19: continuities". Conclusion: a reflection on the contributions of Florence Nightingale and her Environmentalist Theory as milestones of nursing as a profession becomes a necessity, given the pandemic context, her legacy and her Theory have the power to resignify care of nursing.