[SENADEn: political expression of nursing education].

This segmental historical study had as its main objective to register the trajectory of the National Seminars for Directives of Nursing Education (SENADEns) in the ten editions that occurred in various regions of the country from 1994 to 2006. Data sources consisted of official documents of the events, publications of ABEn-Nacional, articles, and theses reports concerning education in nursing. Analyzing the seminars as a whole, we can conclude that the SENADEns represented, and continue to represent, excellent forums for debate of the three levels of nursing education--professional, graduation and post-graduation, thereby progressively legitimizing its leadership in the collective construction of educational policies and directives in the area.