Introduction: Nursing discipline is supported by the existence of its own body of knowledge applicable to a professional endeavor. Such knowledge development is established by means of a conceptual and theoretical framework in order to provide a meaning to the act of caring. Nevertheless, the teaching process in nursing is seemingly focused on contents that show an instrumental model that restricts the independence of the discipline. Materials and methods: Reflection paper regarding the knowledge on Nursing and on the implications of a transmissions curriculum implemented under an instrumentalized teaching established by the curriculum, making invisible the evolution of the profession, which advances as a science. Results: The teaching and learning processes in nursing have been focused on a thematic content that conveys information, by means of a paradigm based on the transference that accounts for a traditional model, which widens the gap of the theory of care and the practice of nursing, restricting the transcendence of the disciplinary knowledge. Discussions and conclusions: The nurse curricula have to be transformed and redefined with a constructivist vision supported around the body of knowledge of nursing and on the scientific method. This change must be done in such a way that the critical thinking on future professionals can be promoted along with the integration between the theory of care and the practice of nursing based on an independent discipline that cares for the life cycle of a person and that considers the human dimensions.