This essay aims to reflect on nursing education and the challenges for the use of remote technologies in the context of the pandemic caused by the new Coronavirus (COVID-19). We opted for a study based on secondary sources in the relevant literature. The various facets of the training of nurses in the context of distance higher education in Brazil were analyzed, based on a brief historical analysis of the evolution of this activity. In a second step, the current situation of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) was addressed, which caused in an emergency the need for managers of higher education institutions worldwide to enable new ways to promote education, especially from the use of digital and informational technologies for remote education. Finally, the possible consequences of this modality of teaching-learning practices were analyzed. The conclusions point out that although distance learning applied to the training of nursing nurses is a viable alternative, especially in the pandemic context, this modality should serve as a complement to the face-to-face activities, to guarantee the quality of the training of nursing professionals.