ABSTRACT
This chapter examines historic and contemporary factors influencing the social recognition of nurses in Mexico. It explores socialization as a phenomenon, including the role of nursing labor within the socioeconomic structure as well as the nurse’s social mobility. The chapter evaluates the prestige of nursing and other dimensions of social stratification. A close relationship between religion and nursing is not peculiar to Mexico as it is a worldwide phenomenon. Nursing is included among the so-called “feminine professions,” that is, those occupations that prepare women not only for a job, but also express the richness of their gender as mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters. The military shaped nursing in Mexico by promoting a strong hierarchical organization of the work force. A significant event in Mexican nursing took place in 1970, when nurses took over as heads of university-based nursing programs. The chapter concludes by considering political economic factors relevant to the Mexican context.
