Issues concerning recruitment, retention and attrition of student nurses in the 1950/60s: a comparative study.

AIM: To investigate student nurse recruitment and attrition in the 1950' and 1960s and undertake comparisons to modern day concerns. The study was set in one hospital in the U.K. BACKGROUND: In the period studied nursing was unpopular as a profession and there were difficulties surrounding recruitment. Attrition rates were high. METHOD: Documentary analysis of 641 training records dating 1955 to 1968 was undertaken. Attrition rates, reasons for non-completion and employment following successful completion were determined. RESULTS: Most recruits were young, unmarried, females and had overseas addresses. The majority (n = 88) had prior nursing experience. Over 69% (n = 443) successfully completed their training. Attrition rates were over 30% (n = 198), the main reason being academic failure. Following completion over 40% (n = 183) undertook midwifery training (n = 183) or secured a staff nurse post (n = 153). CONCLUSIONS: Issues relating to recruitment, retention and attrition in the 1950s and 1960s put into context present day issues. Recent attrition rates from pre-registration nurse education have fallen, nevertheless some of the issues of yesteryear remain problematic. In the present study significant numbers of entrants left due to domestic and ill-health problems resonates with many modern day studies. Also failure to complete due to academic shortcomings continues to be a concern.

A context analysis of student training records dating from the 1950/1960s: what were desirable and undesirable student nurse characteristics?

AIM: The aim of this study is to identify what were desirable and undesirable student nurse characteristics in the 1950/1960s and relate them to those who had successfully completed the programme and gained State Registration and those who had not. A further aim was to undertake comparisons with modern day values of what are viewed as desirable traits in nurses. BACKGROUND: In the 1950/1960s student nurses were hospital employees. Nurse training was based in hospital training schools and coordinated by sister tutors. Learning about nursing largely took place in clinical settings where there was limited supervision of student nurses by qualified nurses. DESIGN: Content analysis approaches were used whereby positive and negative comments related to successful and unsuccessful completers were identified. METHODS: Data were extracted from individual training records relating to 641 student nurses. The records dated from 1955 to 1968. Clinical and training school reports were summarized by senior hospital figures such as the hospital matron. These reports were the focus of the analysis. FINDINGS: Desirable student nurse traits identified in the analysis were being a 'nice person', who is kind, compassionate and attentive to patients, conscientious, bright and intelligent. Other values such as being hard-working, reliable and punctual reflect that the students studied were primarily employees. Amenable to discipline and unquestioningly obeying a doctor's order also were part of the conventions of the time. Most negative comments related to the unsuccessful completers. CONCLUSIONS: New insights into what was viewed as desirable and undesirable nursing characteristics in the 1950/1960s are identified. These insights have national and international relevance.

Pharmacy students at the University of Tartu 1802-2010--a historical study.

The aim of this article was to give an historical overview of pharmacy education in Estonia and the social profile of pharmacy students of the University of Tartu (previously Dorpat and Jurjew) during the period 1802-2010. In addition, separate data is presented about female students and students of Estonian ethnicity. During the period observed, 6736 students studied pharmacy in the University of Tartu, of whom 4184 graduated in the specialty. The largest proportional representation by place of birth was Tartu and the Tartu region (13.5%). 42% of the students were 21-25 years old. The majority (96.84%) of the students were Estonians. At the end of the 19th century, russification of the university resulted in Russian being made the official language of instruction, with a concomitant decrease of ethnically German and an increase in ethnically Estonian students. Changes in admission policies have led to an increased number of Russian students among graduates since 2004. 2319 of the total 6736 students were female. During the period 1926-1940, women achieved the majority among graduates and they represent the majority up to the present day.

Is child labor harmful? The impact of working earlier in life on adult earnings.

This paper explores the question: is working as a child harmful to an individual in terms of adult outcomes in earnings? Although this is an extremely important question, little is known about the effect of child labor on adult outcomes. Estimations of an instrumental variables earnings model on data from Brazil show that child labor has a large negative impact on adult earnings for male children even when controlling for schooling and that the negative impact of starting to work as a child reverses at around ages 12­14.

El tránsito de los alumnos en el profesorado em Educación Física: una carrera, dos periodos / Physical Education professorship students transit at Universidad Nacional de La Plata: a two stages degree

Este artículo estudia el tránsito académico de los alumnos del Profesorado en Educación Física en la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, centrado en el alcance de los resultados obtenidos por el análisis de la regulación institucional, el plan de estudios y cuestionarios realizados a los estudiantes de los diferentes años en la carrera. La existencia de una división en la formación de los estudiantes en dos períodos, se propone: una en el sentido de que asistan a las clases y otra relacionada con el funcionamiento de sus exámenes finales. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar a los estudiantes de tránsito de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata como profesor de Educación Física. Las consultas a los diferentes estudiantes de las diferentes etapas de la medida se tomaron con el fin de establecer relaciones entre el año de admisión, curso en andamiento y aprobación.

This paper studies the academic transit of the students of the Profesorado in Educación Física at the National University of La Plata, centering the scope in the results obtained by the analysis of the institutional regulation, the curriculum and questionnaires made to students of the different years in the career. The existence of a division in the formation of the students in two periods is proposed: one in that they attend to classes and another one related to running of their final exams. The aim of this work is to show the students transit in the Universidad Nacional de La Plata Physical Education Professorship. Inquiries to different students from different stages of the degree were taken in order to establish relationships between year of admission, current coursed and approved subjects.

Este trabalho estuda o trânsito acadêmico dos alunos do Curso de Licenciatura de Educação Física da Universidade Nacional de La Plata, com seu âmbito de aplicação nos resultados obtidos pela análise da regulação institucional, do currículo e de questionários feitos aos alunos dos diferentes anos da carreira. A existência de uma divisão na formação dos alunos em dois períodos é proposto: um em que eles assistem às aulas e uma outra relacionada com os seus exames finais. O objetivo deste trabalho é mostrar os estudantes que passam no curso de Licenciatura em Educação física da Universidad Nacional de La Plata, atraves das entrevistas em diferentes fases do curso a fim de estabelecer relações entre os anos de admissão, o curso em andamento e a aprovação.

'Lower than a scullery maid'. Is this view of the British Poor Law nurse justified? Examination of probationer registers from Kensington Infirmary, 1890-1916.

The Sairey Gamp image has been grossly overused in describing the 'un-reformed' 19th-century British nurse/midwife. For Dickens she was a literary device--an exaggerated portrait of the reality, which has often come to represent the true state of British nursing at the time. But were things uniformly bad in nursing? Those who nursed the sick in voluntary hospitals were, undoubtedly, not of the highest class but many, no doubt, gave reasonably good service. In workhouses those entrusted with caring for the sick were often able-bodied paupers, which added an additional disadvantage to the working class status of nurses in general. In this paper I will explore the myth in relation to selected citations from the literature and to data gathered from the probationer registers of Kensington Infirmary (St Mary Abbot's Hospital) in west London.

Grooming nurses for the new century. Analysis of nurses' registers in London voluntary hospitals before the First World War.

This paper reports on the analysis of nurse probationer registers from 1903 to 1912. The analysis exploring characteristics of the 'modern', reformed nurse. Registers from four London voluntary hospitals were used (St Mary's (Paddington), Westminster, St Thomas's and the London Homoeopathic Hospitals). Socio-demographic data (age on entry, own previous and fathers' occupations, home addresses, wastage rates and reasons for leaving early) and personal characteristics were recorded from the total sample of 500. The 'good, kind and reliable' rather than the 'clever' nurse was preferred by the recording matrons. Relevant extracts from the British Nursing Journal and the Nursing Times are used to support discussion of data in the registers. This paper was first presented at the History of Nursing Millennium Conference in Edinburgh in July 2000.

"A coarse and clumsy tool": Helen Thompson Wooley and the Cincinnati Vocation Bureau.

From 1911 to 1921, Helen Thompson Wooley served as director of the Vocation Bureau of the Cincinnati Public Schools. In this position she designed and supervised a massive longitudinal study comparing the development of adolescents who remained in school with those who left school to go to work. Although the original goals of this study were not accomplished, the achievements of the Vocation Bureau brought national recognition to the city and to Helen Wooley. The accomplishments of the bureau reflected Wooley's view of the role of experimental psychology in contributing to the scientific understanding of adolescents and to educational and social reforms.