Social reform versus education reform: university nursing education in Canada, 1919–1960

Abstract

Nurses' struggle to attain educational parity with other professional groups is closely aligned with the struggle of women for social equality within Canadian institutions. The attempts of nursing educators to shift their perspective from social reform to educational reform and to develop nursing scholarship has been restricted by the cultural views of women. Consequently, nurses' gains in attaining higher education have been realized by reforms in social and health care policies thought suitable for women. With advancement in university nursing education closely tied to social reform, nurses were not expected, nor did they expect, to pursue scholarly enquiry or develop research endeavours. This paper suggests that the feminist movement offers nurses a social and psychological basis from which to complete the educational reform of nursing.

Legitimacy in legacy: a discussion paper of historical scholarship published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, 1976–2011

“…The major theme of the eight articles in the category ‘disciplinary development’ was the influence of factors and trends in shaping the development of nursing as a professional discipline, including factors both internal and external to nursing (Table ). The historical periods covered were the mid‐19th to the mid‐20th centuries and the chronological periods covered ranged from 40 (Baumgart & Kirkwood ) to 200 years (Gabrielson ).…”

“…Factors included the need for economic and political expediency in regulating nursing in the UK (White ), the influence of positivism, mediated through the medical model, on asylum nursing (Chung & Nolan ), and the influence of emerging treatment modalities on nursing roles and interdisciplinary relationships in community psychiatric nursing (Godin ). With a focus on trends in women's higher education and the place of nursing as a gendered occupation, Baumgart and Kirkwood () examined external factors at work in the struggle of Canadian nursing to attain educational parity with other professional groups.…”

“…Some of the articles (e.g. Gabrielson , Simpson , Baumgart & Kirkwood , Mackintosh , Brimblecombe ) reflected narratives of progress and improvement over time in nursing's development, reflecting a common trend in the writing of nursing history (Mortimer ). Some demonstrated that the place and context of practice could advance (Ruffing‐Rahal , Nikkonen , Denny , Russell , Biedermann et al .…”

“…Military conflicts also led to improved nursing skills and methods in trauma care and rehabilitation, which in turn, promoted a better public image of nursing as a social practice. Several studies (Gabrielson , Baumgart & Kirkwood , Young , Fealy ) drew attention to the relationship between key historical events and changing social trends and the advancement of the discipline.…”

“…In four articles (Wattley , Keddy et al . , Baumgart & Kirkwood , Cahill ), the feminist critique was applied implicitly, both in the way that the research questions were framed and in the content and focus of the resultant narratives. Wattley () focused on 19th century male constructions of woman's health and sexuality, and Cahill's (: 334) narrative was built on the premise of ‘patriarchal ideology and misogynist preoccupations with women's reproductive power’.…”