North American nurse educators in the HOPE Earth Project and Nursing teaching

ABSTRACT Objective: analyze the activities of the North American nurse educators of the Project Health Opportunity for People Everywhere Earth (HOPE Earth Project) in Natal, state capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (1974-1981). Method: sociohistorical, qualitative study, resulting from filed documents and ten semistructured interviews. These sources were processed and analyzed using Oral History and Thematic Analysis. Results: the following categories emerged: The North American nurse educators of the HOPE Earth Project and Educator Mary Anne Small through the memories of who had contact with her. Final considerations: the HOPE Earth Project contributed to higher education in health at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, guaranteeing the coming of qualified and experienced lecturers, and the North American educators cooperated towards the qualification of the Nursing Course, even when it was already structured and fully functioning.