Resumo

OGUISSO, Taka. Reflections on ethics and nursing in Latin America. Index Enferm [online]. 2006, vol.15, n.52-53, pp.49-53. ISSN 1699-5988.

This paper analyses changes happened in the nursing practice and its historical causes. From an informal activity nursing became a university career, despite the modernization, decentralization and privatization process and even the unification of the social security and health services, as happened in Brazil. In several countries nursing started to self-regulate educational and professional practice. In this process, it is needed to consider ethical parameters in health care not only toward the isolated individual, but also to social subject and community groups. New challenges as the issue of therapeutical utilization of human embryo, clonation, artificial fecundation, disthanasia and other polemical themes need to be analyzed and discussed by experts and people, having in mind the ethical principles. To build up the aimed future for nursing profession, nurse-leaders need to envision and dare as well as having much tenacity to attain the desired goals.