Abstract
Objective
To analyze the professional militancy of nurses in the face of the precariousness of the work, presented by the Bahian print media in the 1970s and 1980s.
Methods
Historical-documentary research, with a qualitative approach, whose source was the Bahia newspaper A Tarde. The time continuum includes historical landmarks, such as the: creation of the Federal Nursing Council and its regional sections (1973); creation of the Union of Nurses of the State of Bahia (1981); and the approval of the Professional Exercise Law (1986). The national context was the period of the military dictatorship, which adopted a model of social protection and moved towards a political opening. The search terms “Enfermeira” and “Enfermeiro” were used, resulting in 24 reports. The content analysis in the thematic modality supported the organization.
Results
The professional nurse militancy confronted by the precariousness of work was present in the media through the representative entities, evidenced by the following aspects: devaluation of the workforce, marked by low remuneration and replacement of nurses by personnel without adequate qualification; work overload, evidenced by understaffing and poor qualification; and the search for legal determination of the working day and minimum wage.
Conclusion
Nurses used the media to denounce and make society aware of the determinants of the precariousness of work, but the effective actions of combat were minimally approached. The militant activity was concentrated in the scope of the representative entities, but did not demonstrate a collective movement of the nurses.
Political activism; Politics; Journalism; Employment; Nurses
