
Introduction: Nursing knowledge has evolved from its nature of study and has taken into account its curricular conditions in order to give meaning to the role of this discipline. Objective: To identify the aspects that contribute to the consolidation of the nursing knowledge and its curriculum. Materials and methods: An integrative literature review was carried out using the descriptors: nursing, curriculum, nursing theory, nursing education, nursing professors and students, through the LILACS, SciELO y ProQuest databases. Results: 63 articles published between 2015 and 2020 were selected and analyzed. Also, 4 manuscripts were chosen due to their theoretical richness. Two categories emerged: i) Nursing; and ii) Nursing curriculum. In the first category, topics related to profession and discipline, theories, care models, and knowledge patterns are developed. The second category covers teaching methods to strengthen training. 2018 and 2019 were the years with the largest number of publications. The highest number of articles were published in Colombia, followed by Brazil and Mexico. Conclusion: Even though nursing has a clearly established hierarchy of knowledge, it is necessary that the curricula and teaching practices make such knowledge visible.