Nurse and teacher Juana de Jesús Villalón Sánchez, an example of humanism

Abstract

Health professionals’ formation is undoubtedly one of the most valuable achievements of the Revolution so the example of the outstanding teachers constitute a pillar for the medical education. The objective of the current work is to socialize the life Juana de Jesús Villalón Sánchez, Bachelor of nursing and an outstanding teacher, showing her ethical-humanist and patriotic values, as an example of the teaching and assistance of the Cuban Nursing, which is in correspondence with  what is expected from the Cuban Health System.

Methods: a qualitative research was developed using the individual interview and the historical method. In addition, unpublished documents were used related to her professional career, the fulfillment of different tasks entrusted, as well as photographs, testimonies, certificates and acknowledgments.

Results: the study describes different stages of her school life, her professional career, as a nurse and as a nursing teacher. It also deals with her communist political affiliation and mass organizations activism. The paper includes her internationalist participation in the Republic of Angola, in South Yemen, and in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Passages of her family life are also described. 

Conclusions: the study describes the life history of a nurse and educator who, through her hardworking, revolutionary and internationalist attitude, contributed to the formation of several generations of professionals.