Student nurses' accounts of their work and training: a qualitative analysis

Abstract

This thesis reports a study which attempted to explore how a group
\nof student nurses perceived their experience of being learners of nursing.
\nIn order to obtain the students' accounts of this experience, a
\nqualitative methodological approach has adopted, drawing upon the work of
\nGlaser and Strauss (1967) on the generation of 'grounded theory'. The
\nfieldwork took the form of informal interviews with forty student nurses.
\nCertain predetermined topics provided the overall direction of the
\nfieldwork; the students were encouraged to develop these and to raise
\nany others which they thought to be pertinent to nursing.
\nThe interviews were tape recorded and their analysis resulted in the
\nemergence of six conceptual categories which served as a framework for
\nthe presentation of the substantive issues raised by the students. Three
\nmajor themes are taken up from the data, these are: the student
\nexperience as a preparation for staff nurse work, the functional
\ninterchangeability of the student and the nursing auxiliary and, the
\nconcept of medical dominance.
\nThis study sheds some light on the process of occupational
\nsocialisation in nursing and examines the question of profession and
\nprofessionalisation in relation to nursing. The concluding discussion
\nmoves beyond the data and examines the occupational structure of nursing;
\nthis is relevant to the study because the students were preparing to
\nbecome part of that structure. Moreover the occupational structure has
\nimplications for the recruitment of students and the organisation of their
\ntraining. Four sub-groups within nursing are identified, namely: 'new
\nmanagers', 'new professionals', 'rank and file' and 'academic
\nprofessionalisers'. A speculative discourse upon how these groups might
\narticulate with each other, in order to produce an efficient nursing
\nservice, is offered and areas for further study are suggested.