Funções e condições de trabalho de um enfermeiro no Hospital de S. José (meados do século XIX)

Portuguese nurses currently have several tools and ressouces that regulate their professional practice. Nevertheless, the consolidation of the identity process requires efforts to clarify the practices and contexts of the profession in earlier historical periods, namely during the constitutional monarchy. We intend to contribute to clarifying the professional and social status of the nurse stated in the Regulation of Hospital de S. José, of 21st January 1851. We consulted and analysed the Regulation and Colection of State Budgets (1836-1862), using the historical analysis method. We present aspects of the physical and economic environment of the hospital, the position of the nursing staff compared with the other employees, the daily organization in wards and the role of each employee. They were two groups of employees: employees with major functions and employees with minor functions, which included nurses. The nurse – central figure in the management and routines of the ward– had supervisory responsibilities over nursing assistants and ”moços”. Patient care was perfomed by nursing assistants. It would be useful to conduct further research on subsequent periods or carry out a comparative study with either the Hospital Termal das Caldas or another hospital run by the Misericórdias.