Nursing was born as a profession in the 1800s, under the influence of the British educational model, because of the rapid social and technological changes that took place at that time. Such a profession began to be manipulated almost immediately by other social groups, making it susceptible to be controlled by doctors and hospital administrators. Florence Nightingale is recognized as a pioneer. The people who work in nursing, for the most part are women, influenced by the social definitions of what is a woman and what should be. One of the main obstacles to developing a professional image and autonomy of women has been the willingness to accept a secondary place, to have less power and to be under the authority of men. The assumption that the female nurse is a second-class job represents a barrier to recruiting, retaining staff and improving the profession's image. The public image of women begins to gain recognition in recent years. It is not until the end of the last century and until the first decade of 2000 that in Ecuador the awakening of a social recognition of the nurses, extended to other countries. It is appreciated that the social image of nursing in Costa Rica is distorted and far from the current mission of Costa Rican nursing, represented in the mission of the College of Nurses and Nurses of Costa Rica, which tells us that nursing is oriented to respond to health needs and problems associated with population in different scenarios and is characterized by humanism, critical judgment, ethical and scientific, innovation, creativity and proactivity. (College of Nurses and Nurses of Costa Rica, 2013) But have we stopped to think about the origin of this social image that is not precise?
