[The Activity Theory as a conceptual model for nursing].

The search for theoretical models in order to provide inputs and to reconsider the nursing practice, as well as to found research and teaching, has been a concern among contemporaneous nursing researchers. This article proposes a glance at the pedagogical assumption that supports the application of the Activity Theory, i.e., qualifying subjects to learn how to learn, to build and to search for knowledge. This theory also assumes actions in dynamic contexts of action-operation, a feature that must be emphasized in nursing education, as well as in the development of the abilities needed for group work.