Nurse Nestória Merino de Arce: pioneer in orthopedic and traumatology nursing care

Abstract Objective to describe nurse Nestória Merino de Arce’s contributions to the establishment of professional identity of orthopedics and traumatology nursing. Method biographical historical and qualitative research. The oral life history technique was used for data collection, with transcription and transcreation. Documents were collected from the collection of the Instituto Nacional de Traumatologia e Ortopedia Jamil Haddad (INTO), and source triangulation was applied. The analysis followed Claude Dubar’s framework of social identity construction. Results three analytical categories emerged: “Nurse Nestória Merino de Arce’s life and insertion in nursing”; “A new life in Brazil and professional challenges”; “Professional experience in orthopedics and traumatology – making a difference in care”. Conclusion and implications for practice the study presents the identity form at work, as the ideal professional biography, which is constituted by the establishment of identity to its aging, with a legacy established at INTO and in the field of orthopedics and traumatology nursing. It strengthens the recognition of specialized nursing by the constitution and application of a clinical practice of care in a national reference institution in orthopedics and traumatology, offering the Brazilian population services of different complexities with recognized quality.