Objectives: to analyze nurses’ professional militancy in the institutionality field, presented by the printed media from Bahia State in the 1970s and 1980s. Methods: a historical and qualitative research under Social History’s perspective, whose data source was the newspaper A Tarde. The temporal cut-off encompasses milestones such as professional body restructuring and creation. Results: the Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem democratization movement was reported in a superficial way, highlighting the struggle for power spaces. With respect to Conselhos Federal e Regional de Enfermagem daBahia, the newspaper notified creation and function of bodies, however, there was no visibility to the newspaper’s performance. Concerning the union, there was political fragility of nurses against the creation and union participation in the fight for labor rights. Final Considerations: organization of political action occurred from isolated groups mobilization of professionals who were already traveling in political spaces, not the large mass of professionals.

Objective:To analyze the history of the life and activism of Portuguese nurse Maria Augusta Sousa. Method: Sousa's life story was obtained by means of semi-structured interviews with Sousa as the oral source of data. N Vivo qualitative research software was used for data analysis. Content analysis focused on thematic analysis based on the theoretical and philosophical ideas of Michel Foucault, in particular, power and techniques of the self. Results: Alienation and political participation were revealed as pertinent issues. In techniques of production of activist subjects, the following were highlighted: the importance of the review of formal education; actions of involvement with the world, society and the profession; and finally, techniques of the self, techniques of constitution of activist subjects, professional identity and way of being. Conclusion: The constitution of the nurse Maria Augusta Sousa as an activist came about through questioning of how to be, education in the context of her family, and political engagement in Catholic Youth. This impacted her trajectory of contributions to Portuguese nursing, as expressed in the following achievements: the integration of nursing training into higher education; the creation of the Regulation of Nurses Professional Practice; and implementation of the Order of Nurses. DESCRIPTORS

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