A study in the psychological aspects of the recruitment of nurses

Abstract

The introduction of the National Health Act in Britain, 1946-1948, brought a renewed public interest in nurses and nursing and references to their status or lack of it became frequent in professional and national publications. In 1950 the World Health Organisation expressed its concern for the status of nursing at international level.It seemed therefore of interest and possible usefulness to investigate the social standing of professional nursing as an occupation for women in England in 1948-9, since in the American literature the status or prestige of an occupation was considered relevant to vocational choice. Social status and prestige have been considered in the light of current psychological and sociological literature and in relation to social mobility. Earlier studies of occupational status and of nursing recruitment in England have been reviewed. Teaching has been shown as a control occupation and the historical development of nursing and teaching considered. Present day nursing has been assessed for prestige as one of five occupations by means of a paired comparisons technique. 217 respondents completed this questionnaire and some interesting profiles of occupational stereotypes were obtained in addition to a rank order for the five occupations. Difficulties encountered in the use of the first questionnaire suggested that It infringed a social taboo for some people. A wider survey was therefore made with a different questionnaire by which 1552 subjects compared nursing with teaching end secretarial work only, The results of this second survey allow comparison of various disadvantages within the three occupations and show differences of opinion between the public and practising members. The various findings are discussed and conclusions drawn relating to a social taboo, some social stereotypes and the popularity of nursing in this country.