OBJECTIVES: the objective in this study is to identify the profile of the nursing staff, the work conditions and to describe nursing care at a sanatorium located in Barcelona, Spain between 1943 and 1975.METHOD: historical study undertaken between 2008 and 2010, based on oral sources, five direct and one indirect testimonies, and the analysis of written documents. The data from the testimonies were collected through semistructured interviews.RESULTS: the nursing staff, mostly religious women, had scarce material and economic resources and no preventive measures to take care of the ill. The nurses undertook activities centered on the basic needs for physical and spiritual wellbeing.CONCLUSION: The study reveals how the nurses, despite working in hostile conditions, attempted to safeguard the wellbeing of the patients and accompany them during the death process.