Four statements inferenced from: religious traditions, gender or woman status, military heritage and ethnic inheritance, and their influence in nursing, are presented in this article. The ethnic inheritance analyses the issue based upon the cultural influences of the native-indigenous groups and the spanish and mediterranean attributes in nursing development. The religious tradition began with Pedro Claver's J.C. presence between 1610 and 1617. His presence is followed by the "Hermanos Hospitalarios de San Juan de Dios" in 1768, and further with the presence of the sisters of Charity in 1873. Lastly, the article compares the Barcelona's Santa Cruz hospital organization, where at that time, seems to appear a new type of nursing arrangement; with present functions and charges, currently utilized in colombian hospitals (administrator of patient rooms, "servidor", women in charge of female patients and sick children, "ecónoma", chief in charge, and senior male nurse).