Dr. Ramon Carrillo had a vision: he believed that Argentina needed 20,000 professional nurses to overcome the serious health problems which afflicted its population. He set his priorities based on the areas where he felt Argentina lagged behind the developed world: 1) Infant deaths; 2) Tuberculosis; 3) Venereal disease; 4) Mental Health; 5) Epidemics; 6) Helping People with Disabilities; 7) Increasing Life Span. First, he wanted to cure the sick, then prevent the illness, and finally attack the socioeconomic factors which caused the illness (lack of proper nutrition, unsafe working conditions, ignorance of basic hygiene). His plan, titled "Plan Analítico de Salud Pública," published in 1947 by the Secretaria de Salud Pública de la Nación, dealt with causes, consequences, and effects. Professional nurses were indispensable to its success.
Dr. Carrillo found an intelligent and willing collaborator in Teresa Adelina Fiora, secretary to the Nursing School in the Peralta Ramos Hospital, who suggested that all existing nursing schools be centralized and their course of study updated.
In less than a year, Fiora, supported by a team of doctors which included Jorge Albertelli, Evita's doctor, had organized the Eva Peron School of Nursing.
The course lasted two years. During the first year the nurses studied Hygiene and Epidemiology; Anatomy and Physiology; Semiology; General Pathology and Therapeutics; national Defense and Public Disasters. Second year courses included First Aid; Infirmary - medical and surgical; Obstetrics; Gynecology; Pediatrics; Dietetics; and Social Medicine.
Post graduate studies took two more years to complete and included residence training a the Hospital Presidente Peron in Avellaneda, and other new Fundacion hospitals in Lanus, San Martin, and Ramos Mejia, where nurses specialized in different areas including laboratory technology, neonatology and psychiatry.
When the Society of Beneficence ran the nursing schools, nurses were little more than glorified servants with no real medical training. Evita envisioned professionals who could work in remote areas, without doctors if necessary. Nurses were taught to drive the different vehicles of the Fundacion Eva Peron: ambulances, hospital ambulances (each one with ten beds and an operating theater); ambulances equipped for emergency surgery; jeeps; motorcycles; and vehicles used for transporting doctors and nurses.

The Nursing School, la Escuela de Enfermeras, was completely integrated into the Fundacion by September of 1950 and by 1951 had graduated more that 5,000 nurses.
The only limitation for entry into the Nursing School was that of age: women had to be between the ages of 18 - 34. Students who could not afford the fees were subsidized by the Fundacion Eva Peron. Adelina Fiora remembers, "Many [of the candidates] came from very humble homes and had no concept of the discipline necessary for the studies they would undertake. I thought one way to teach them to be organized was to have them raise and lower the flag in the patio of the school, just as is done in our primary and secondary schools. That way they went into their classes together and ready to work."
Delia Maldonado - one of the Fundacion nurses - also remembers the discipline and the care that was to be taken of their sky blue uniforms. "Discipline was something that was inculcated into us. A nurse must always be calm, no matter what the problem or situation; otherwise, she cannot offer her help in the way she should. This discipline also manifested itself in the respect we showed the patient. The first lesson we learned was to greet the patient. Greet him and ask him how he felt. We had to accompany the patient because when you check into a hospital, no matter how good the care or luxurious the surroundings, you always feel a sensation of abandonment, We had to offer confidence and assurance that all would be well. We never turned on the lights of the ward [abruptly] or awakened patients by clapping our hands or shouting [as was done when nurses were trained by the Society of Beneficence]. Also, we always had to wear our uniform and it was our responsibility to keep it clean and neat.
Nurses did not just work in hospitals. Together with the Armed Forces, they also participated in antimalarial and anti "mal de changas" campaigns. They accompanied doctors and social workers all over the world to offer solidarity and specialized treatment when disaster struck. Some even gave their lives in services to humanity. In 1949, a terrible earthquake struck Ecuador. Medical personnel from the Fundacion Eva Peron flew in a Fundacion plane to the neighboring country to help. On its return to Buenos Aires the plane crashed. Among those killed were two nurses, Amanda Allen and Luisa Komel. Later the Ciudad lnfantil, the Children's City, would be named in honor of Amanda Allen.

Bibliography: Ferioli, Nestor.

La Fundacion Eva Peron/2. Buenos Aires:Centro Editor, 1990.