This study aimed to present the trajectory doctoral education in nursing in Brazil, looking back at the past, understanding the present and thinking about the future of teaching and knowledge production, covering the period from 1981 to 2004. A descriptive and analytical study was carried out, using documents available at the Foundation Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES/MEC), a body responsible for the recognition, evaluation and coordination of graduate studies in Brazil. Data analysis revealed that there nine doctoral courses in nursing, most of which are concentrated in the Southeast (77%), and that teaching and scientific production have been influenced by demographic and epidemiological transitions and by historical, social and political movements. Knowledge production is related to Nursing Care, followed by Health Management and Practices and Theoretical Foundations of Care. The doctoral program has prepared leaders in the fields of education, research and public policy development, in health institutions as well as in public bodies, such as the Ministries of Health, Education and Science and Technology. There is a tendency to prepare nursing Ph.D.'s in accordance with the population's health problems at the regional level, in view of regional diversities in Brazil.