A follow‐up of the graduates of the Cardiff Bachelor of Nursing Degree Course

Abstract

This paper considers the career patterns of the graduates of the University of Wales College of Medicine Bachelor of Nursing course. The 4-year course commenced in 1972 and has now seen 11 years of graduates. A longitudinal questionnaire survey has been administered annually to graduates of the course to ascertain information relating to the posts held and qualifications gained by graduates, which is the focus of this paper. The questionnaire also elicits graduates' perceptions of the value of aspects of the degree course to posts held, and the reaction of colleagues to the fact that they are nurse graduates. The results of the follow-up are presented to show the posts held by graduates at four time intervals; 6 months, 2 years and 5 years following graduation, and all graduates at the 1986 follow-up. The numbers of those who have obtained various post-registration qualifications are also presented. The findings support those of other follow-up studies of nurse graduates and diplomats. The graduates largely entered nursing or related posts, with the majority remaining in clinical-based posts as opposed to teaching and administration. The findings lead to further questions regarding the role and function of the nursing graduate. Further study is currently in progress to compare various elements of the practice style of Bachelor of Nursing graduates with non-graduate nurses.

Limitations, frustrations and opportunities: a follow‐up study of nursing graduates from the University of Birmingham, England

“…One graduate had gained a second preregistration paediatric nursing qualification. Three were currently pursuing midwifery training, the most sought‐after first‐level qualification following graduation; a finding also reported by Collister (1988), Bircumshaw & Chapman (1988) and Smith (1993). A substantial number reported frustrations with professional development opportunities, although most postgraduation developments were through ENB courses.…”

“…Discussion of the findings from this study and their implications must be seen in the context of the sample size and response rate. A response rate of 47·25% is relatively low compared to 67% reported by Smith (1993); 54% Mellon (1991); 49% Collister (1988); and 75% Bircumshaw & Chapman (1988). In the Birmingham study, at the time this research was conducted, only three cohorts of graduates were available to study.…”

“…For example, Sinclair (1987) found that few University of Edinburgh (the first UK nursing graduate programme, established in the 1960s) graduates moved into senior positions. Bircumshaw & Chapman (1988) found that most Cardiff graduates remained in clinical‐based posts, most notably midwifery. These findings have been substantiated by other researchers, for example studies by Collister (1988) at the University of Manchester; Mellon (1991) in Ottawa; and Smith (1993) at the University of Glasgow.…”

A survey of the attitudes of senior nurses towards graduate nurses

“…Given the responses to the first question, several of the subjects were indicating that graduates fill teaching, management and research posts, which according to the increasing number of follow-up studies, does not appear to be the case (Bircumshaw & Chapman 1988, Sinclair 1984, Kemp 1985, Howard & Brooking 1987. This also applies to some of the general comments made suggesting that graduates 'drop out'.…”

NURSES WITH DEGREES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: CAREERS AND CONTRIBUTIONS AND CHALLENGES(Kemp 1988)

“…There have been a number of foUow-up studies eamed out by the umversity departments of nursing lootang at the eareers of their graduates (Marsh 1976, Seott Wnght et al 1977, Montague & Flerbert 1982, Smelair 1984, Bireumshaw & Chapman 1988, Kemp 1988 The overndmg impression is that most move into ehmeal posts on graduation There is httle evidenee to suggest that they follow an aeeelerated eareer path or that they move out of nursing Their eareers appear to be mueh hke any other eohort of qualifymg nurses, with gender probably being the most important determmant Poohng the data from these studies using the teehmque of meta-analysis would give a more broadly based pieture of the eareers of nursing graduates in the Umted Kingdom than we have at present and, perhaps, go some way to eoneet the shU prevalent view that graduate nurses are divorced from the realities of practice, both m their mhtial educahon and m their subsequent eareers I thank the editor of the Joumal of Advanced Nursing for mviting me to revisit this fasanating area of nursing development…”