Nursing School of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul: 60 years of conquests and challenges.

On December 4th, 2010, the Nursing School of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul celebrated 60 years. After six decades, the institution is in good shape and recognized academically. Created in 1950, the School was a landmark, for it was the first Nursing School in the Southern Region of Brazil. However, maintain and expand it is a daily challenge for its faculty and staff. In 1966, the School faculty organized the first Graduate course in Nursing, and in 1972 other eight, a practice still mantained. At about the same time these same professors were part of the commission that created Porto Alegre's Hospital de Clínicas in 1970. The model of nursing assistance in this hospital was innovative for its time, for it considered the nursing process as a tool for the grounding and realization of care in every level of attention to health, besides introducing the nursing appointment. The hospital maintains these practices and has been an example for several institutions. Mantaining its quest for excellence, in 1976 the Nursing School opened its Undergraduate course in Nursing Teaching, its Majors in Obstetric Nursing and Public Health, its Master's Degree in Nursing and its journal, Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem. Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem was created to publicize papers from nurses working in Southern Brazil, but it has surpassed its original purpose. At the momen of its creation, it was the fourth nursing journal in Brazil and the only one in Rio Grande do Sul. The first Brazilian nursing journals were Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP and Enfermagem em Novas Dimensões, this last one no longer active. Nowadays, Revista Gaúcha de Enfermagem is an international journal, indexed in ten international and two national databases, and two catalogs, and it is one of the four Brazilian periodicals indexed in MEDLINE. Since 2010, it is available on line at SciELO, with the complete text of its papers available. The Master's Degree in Nursing created in 1976 was closed in 1983, but in 1992 UFRGS' Nursing School entered the Network of Graduate Studies in Nursing of Southern Brazil (REPENSUL). In 1997, the Master's program is reopened and in 2004 a PhD in Nursing is opened. In 2008, a new undergraduate course in Analysis of Health Policies and Systems is created. Research is still considered an emergent area in the Nursing School, but it is gradually being consolidated. Several researches have already received prizes and research projects are beginning to receive funding from agencies. Community activities are being constantly held, both in continuing education and in short-term projects. UFRGS' Nursing School has been contributing over its 60 years of life to the quality of nursing education in its several levels, and, consequently, to the quality of nursing care and attention to health to the people of Rio Grande do Sul. The School has been enlarging its presence and participation in several national and international levels. In 60 years, 2,563 nurses, 481 nursing teachers and 94 professionals with Majors in Obstetrics or Public Health graduated in this School. 174 Master's Degrees and 6 PhD's in Nursing were awarded, as well as countless numbers of lato sensu graduate degrees in several sub-fields. The Nursing School Director's Office is committed to foster teaching, the diffusion of scientific knowledge, the increase of experience-based and academic knowledge-based actions and the continuing education of teachers and professors. It also values the growth of research, community action and partnerships with other programs and departments at UFRGS, and also partnerships with the civil society and other institutions, especially those dedicated to health and education.