Graduate Profession Research Articles

Reviewing work-based learning opportunities in the community for physiotherapy students: an action research study

Physiotherapy became a graduate profession in the 1990s marking a shift from ‘training’ to ‘education’. This means students are required to develop as reflective, innovative and autonomous practitioners. Traditional work-based learning has remained a key component in the curricula of physiotherapy programmes in higher education. This is delivered by qualified physiotherapists who take on the role of ‘practice educator’ with responsibility for teaching, supervision and assessment. The teaching and learning strategies of the university and work-based components of physiotherapy curricula are aligned. Concomitantly the delivery of physiotherapy services have become increasingly diverse and the wider health and social care context has changed. In response to these challenges the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (2006) published guidance on the development of work-based learning in community and non-traditional settings. This study explored how community-based placements could be developed to ensure work-based learning continues to meet students’ needs. An action research methodology was used because any change to established practice is more successful if it involves the people who are responsible for its implementation. Thematic analysis identified three important considerations in the development of community placements: Skill acquisition within community settings; expectations of the available learning and teaching opportunities; effects of health service improvements. This research has highlighted the importance of consultation between all those responsible for physiotherapy work-based learning. A review framework has subsequently been developed to both facilitate this consultation and evaluate placement opportunities available in a specific community setting.

Evaluating human, social and cultural capital in nurse education

Using the concepts of human, social and cultural capital this paper will review the literature on these theories and evaluate their application to nurse education in the United Kingdom (UK). Each concept will be explored before considering the impact and application within nurse education. Issues of sponsorship via mentoring and increased skills and contribution to the knowledge economy alongside the delivery of quality care by nursing students will be discussed with reference to theory and current policy drivers. As nursing education moves to a graduate profession in the UK this paper evaluates the drivers of human, social and cultural capital that affect this development.

Writing for publication: A practical Six Step Approach

There is a tendency amongst nurses in clinical practice to view writing for publication as something beyond their requisite. However, as UK nurses in particular move towards an all graduate profession, the need for clinical nurses to nurture a culture of writing is becoming more evident. Apart from an opportunity to share best orthopaedic and trauma nursing practice and innovation, writing for publication can also provide personal satisfaction and professional growth. The aim of this article is to inspire and encourage new authors in clinical practice to write for publication. The authors outline a practical Six Step Approach to act as signposts towards creating that first publishable journal article. This includes the need to read as preparation for writing, selecting an appropriate journal, planning and structuring the work as well as what happens after submission of the publication. The article also includes practical tips that will help the clinical practitioner to remain focused and committed towards writing for publication.

Front Line Care: The impact on GI nurses

As the nation awaits the forthcoming general election and the inevitable hard sell of proposed policies by the major political parties, it can be easy to overlook developments that are occurring currently within nursing. Front Line Care, a report by the Prime Minister′s Commission into the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England (2010) is such an example. Given the importance of this report, scant attention has been given to it by the mass media. This is in stark contrast to the news that pre-registration nursing programmes are converting to an all graduate profession on qualification by 2013. The old chestnut of ′degree nurses are too posh to wash′ debate reared its ugly head in the tabloid press and many of us smiled ironically at the mis-representation of our profession once again.

Degrees of ambivalence: Attitudes towards pre-registration university education for nurses in Britain, 1930–1960

The recent decision from the Nursing and Midwifery Council to make nursing a graduate profession has for some been the culmination of over a century of expectation. From the 1890s there were voices within the nursing and medical professions that nursing should be taught in universities. The purpose of this article is to explore two attempts in the mid-20th century to establish a degree in nursing at an English University; neither of which was successful. It will be demonstrated that there were too many conflicting ideas and personalities for these to have been achieved. The doctors wanted skilled assistants, many in the nursing profession considered that nurses should have 'common-sense, courtesy and kindness', in that order, the universities considered nursing to be a practical vocation, and the governments did not want the increased spending that such a move would necessitate.

Diploma to degree 1976 to 1993

The debate on degree education for radiographers began in earnest in the mid-1970s. Initially the debate hinged around whether a degree education was necessary for radiographers. One argument was that it was felt that a degree would separate academic and clinical training but eventually when degrees were introduced practical skills were assessed formally for the first time; something that had not been achieved with the Diploma of the College of Radiographers (DCR).The DCR itself became a barrier to degree education as the College of Radiographers (CoR) insisted that it was the only qualification recognised for state registration and as such would have to remain embedded as a distinct qualification within a degree.A major breakthrough came when the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) recognised the DCR at the same level as an ordinary degree. Around the same time the CoR published its Degree Rationale which announced a change in policy by not insisting that the DCR was sacrosanct.Developments followed rapidly and the first honours degree in radiography was validated in 1989 despite opposition from scientific officers at the Department of Health. Degrees were approved for state registration and radiography became a graduate profession by 1993 following years of debate and after overcoming opposition from both within and external to the profession.

Nurses’ motivations for studying third level post-registration nursing programmes and the effects of studying on their personal and work lives

Internationally nurses' motivations for post-registration education and the effects of studying are important concerns for the profession. This paper describes Irish nurses' motivations for studying post-registration nursing programmes and the effects of studying on their personal and work lives. Eighteen nurses participated in this qualitative study. Data were collected using three focus groups and a one-to-one interview. Data were analysed using the qualitative data analysis method Framework [Ritchie, J., Spencer, L., 1994. Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research. In: Bryman, A., Burgess, R. (Eds.), Analyzing Qualitative Data. Routledge, London, pp. 173-194]. Three themes were identified: "I want to keep up and I want to keep in there," "It's about juggling and getting the balance" and "I'm looking at things differently." Findings revealed that nurses studied to aid their professional development. Contextual factors influenced their motivations including a free fees initiative and Irish nursing developing into an all graduate profession. The impact of studying on their personal and work lives was broader in scope than their motivations.

Britain risks falling behind in education stakes

I read with interest your article about the future of nursing education in the UK (features January 11). I found it encouraging that so many of those interviewed spoke positively about nursing becoming a graduate profession. I recently completed a BSc in gerontological nursing with the RCN Institute and the course has greatly enhanced my practice and knowledge of nursing.

PROFESSIONS, ELITES, AND UNIVERSITIES IN ENGLAND, 1870–1970

The relationship between the ‘growth of professional society’ and the growth of new universities in England from the later nineteenth century is more often asserted than examined in detail. This article examines the policies towards graduates of three large professions, those of schoolteachers, solicitors, and accountants. The crucial first stage was the growth of an examining society during the second half of the nineteenth century; exams were necessary for almost everything and middle-class children, girls as well as boys, stayed at school longer to take them. This process provided the students both for women's colleges and for the new universities. However, graduate employment remained a problem: solicitors resisted large-scale graduate entry until well into the 1950s, accountants for a decade longer. Teaching was exceptional as a large profession that accepted graduates in large numbers. As a result, the secondary school system produced teachers, who produced university students, many of whom had little option but to return to teaching. This applied to Science as well as Arts students, male as well as female. Secondary school teaching rapidly became a graduate profession, while interwar elementary school teaching moved quite rapidly in that direction. The restricted occupations available for graduates created a vicious circle that significantly restrained the Redbrick universities' opportunities for expansion from their foundation until after 1945. Thereafter, with their traditional intake now going to university, solicitors and accountants were increasingly compelled to accept graduates in large numbers. The post-war growth in student numbers was bound up with a widening of social access to universities, particularly within the middle classes.

Moving to an all graduate profession: preparing preceptors for their role

The world of Irish Nurse education has changed significantly over the last number of years, moving from certificate to diplomat status, from hospital-based training to integration within the higher education sector. The Irish Government has now committed £223,470,000 for the implementation of a four year pre-registration nursing degree programme. Consequently, from 2002 onwards all Irish pre-registration nurse education will be at graduate level. In recognition of the importance of student learning during practice placement the Nursing Education Forum (2000) recommended that nursing students be supported by a named preceptor. This recommendation has significant resource implications in terms of current staff demands, staff preparation and ongoing support for the preceptor role. This paper will focus on a review of the literature on student support mechanisms during practice placements with particular emphasis on the concept of preceptor and preceptorship.

Taking a degree after qualifying as a registered general nurse: constraints and effects

In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on nurses obtaining degrees with many arguing for an all graduate profession. Traditionally trained nurses may feel increased pressure to obtain degrees to compete with their diploma and degree trained successors. This paper presents findings from the sixth questionnaire in a Department of Health-funded, longitudinal study into the careers of traditionally trained nurses who qualified in 1990/91. It discusses the experiences of a cohort of 620 nurses eight years after qualification, in terms of the proportion who had taken/were taking a degree, the support offered by employers and the perceived effects of a nursing/healthcare degree on their work. The findings showed that almost half did not plan to take a degree and that a main constraint was the difficulty of combining paid work with studying, especially for women with childcare responsibilities. However, for the minority who had taken/were taking a degree, the perceived effects included increased self-confidence, with the majority reporting enhancement of clinical skills and better career prospects. The findings point to a need for employers to address issues of flexible working, study leave and funding in order that nurses are given every opportunity for career development.

Professional knowledge and its impact on nursing practice

There is an increasing debate within nursing regarding the necessity of an all graduate profession. This debate is part of a bigger and more fundamental discussion about the status of nursing that has seriously divided the profession. From time to time professions seek to enhance their status, for whatever reason, by shifting to more prestigious forms of knowledge (Robson 1999). Nursing has long been concerned with raising its professional status and one way to do this is to raise the entry to graduate level. This possibility has recently been suggested once again by the UKCC (Peach 1999). However, such a change could affect the knowledge base that nurses possess which may have potential consequences for nursing practice.

The Future of Undergraduate Librarianship Degrees

Reflects on earlier editorials covering the development and condition of professional library education in the UK noting that the prospects for the undergraduate programmes that were discussed in these reviews and which provoked such controversy and anxiety at the time, today look rather depressing. When the debate about the graduate nature of the library and information science (LIS) profession raged through the 1970s, the Library Association was accused of trying to be fashionable and elitist. Those librarians who were ‘mere’ Associates of the Library Association (ALA) feared that they would have few career prospects, restricted salaries and be held in lower regard than graduates. Now that the graduate profession is taken for granted a new issue has arisen focusing on the question of the future of undergraduate programmes in librarianship. Library schools have reported a sharp decline in the numbers and quality of applicants for undergraduate programmes. Loughborough University has been forced to close its undergraduate librarianship programme following several years’ sustained effort to reinvigorate it. One problem identified is the rising burden of student debt, with potential recruits emerging from their undergraduate degrees with over £5000 worth of debt and a reluctance to extend this debt further. This problem is exacerbated by the question of whether graduates will be satisfied by some of the low salaries offered to new professionals (some public and school library salaries starting as low as £12 000 pounds per year). Whilst some surveys suggest that employers do not care about the level of the qualification as long as the individual is right for the job, many will still only employ those with postgraduate level qualifications and by so doing will overlook many enthusiastic and dynamic potential recruits committed to a career in librarianship.

Education purchasers’ views of nursing as an all graduate profession

The issue of whether nursing should be an all graduate profession is one of the most important questions currently facing the nursing profession. The literature indicates that there are differing views on this issue but that there is little research on the performance of graduate nurses in practice. Purchasers of education have played an increasingly significant part in nurse education since the advent of Working Paper 10 (WP10) (DOH 1989). Purchasers hold the resources for nurse education and can now decide whether to commission for diploma or degree level student nurses, therefore they will have a major influence on the outcome of this debate. The aim of this paper is to discuss the views of the purchasers of education about this issue. A purposeful sample of 34 key stakeholders involved in commissioning and contracting for education was selected and asked for their views on whether nursing will or should become an all graduate profession. Key areas that were focused upon were the problems that might emerge from an all graduate nursing profession, the advantages of graduate level nurses within the NHS, what graduateness is and what it might mean for nursing. The results indicated that purchasers were convinced of the importance of nursing graduates but only as part of the workforce. Alternative ways of increasing the percentage of graduates rather than in pre-registration education were preferred with pathways of education linked to continuing professional development. Significantly, the participants were able to articulate the attributes of a degree level education for clinical practice including leadership, assertiveness, and reflective, critical skills.

No Sign of a Better Job: 100 years of British journalism

Journalism has changed radically in Britain since the early part of the 20th century when Mencken described it as ?a craft to be mastered in four days and abandoned at the first sign of a better job?. Delano summarizes findings from his long-standing research concern to chart the many developments in journalism by exploring: the burgeoning numbers of journalists; the impact of new technology on journalism; the shifting age, gender and ethnic minority composition of journalists; as well as the changing patterns of education and training for journalists and the emergence of journalism as a graduate profession. In some respects, the position of journalists has changed little across the last 100 years. At the end of the twentieth century journalists face similar problems to those that confronted them at its beginning: divided views on how their occupation might be organized and regulated and powerless to influence the increasing concentration of the media that employs them in the hands of omnipotent and indifferent controllers.

Nineteenth-Century Anglican Theological Training: The Redbrick Challenge (review)

Reviewed by: Nineteenth-Century Anglican Theological Training: The Redbrick Challenge Arthur Burns (bio) Nineteenth-Century Anglican Theological Training: The Redbrick Challenge, by David A. Dowland; pp. ix + 241. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997, £37.50, $72.00. At the outset of the nineteenth century, episcopal ambitions for a wholly graduate clergy in the poorest regions of England and Wales remained unfulfilled. Reformist bishops determined that any non-graduates recruited should have at least sufficient education to make effective parochial clergy, and sponsored the creation of the first Anglican institutions specifically intended to train non-graduates for ordination. Later in the century, further initiatives responded to a combination of the human-resource implications of the church extension with which the established church responded to urbanization, a decline in the attractiveness of a clerical career to its traditional constituency, and a suspicion (in at least some minds) that a different kind of clergyman might be required to Christianize the urban masses. The precarious world of the non-graduate clergy of Victorian England and their training institutions has only recently attracted serious scholarly interest, notably in the valuable discussion contained in Alan Haig’s The Victorian Clergy of 1984. Several subsequent unpublished studies are now joined by David Dowland’s book. Any account of non-graduate training in the nineteenth century is inevitably a story of at best qualified success: the early-twentieth century saw renewed commitment to the creation of a fully graduate clergy, while the church remained a largely graduate profession. Non-graduate clergy continued to be victims of a “glass ceiling,” few penetrating the upper reaches of the profession save in the context of the colonial church, while their parochial careers still generally led to the poorer rural areas or demanding but underfunded urban livings. Dowland sets himself the task of identifying the factors governing the fortunes of non-graduate colleges and determining whether their students deserved to be treated as the inferior relations of their university-educated peers. He addresses these issues through a consideration of a selection of colleges: St. David’s College, Lampeter, one of the earliest diocesan foundations; the Anglican response to the “godless” University of London, King’s College London; the evangelical colleges created at St. John’s, Highbury, and St. Aidan’s, Birkenhead; and the idiosyncratic high-church foundation of Kelham, established by Herbert Kelly at the end of the century. [End Page 531] Dowland’s account makes plain how the odds were stacked against some of these institutions. Inadequate finances not only threatened the survival of the colleges, but also encouraged the admission of inadequately prepared students who would serve to discredit their alma mater even assuming that they managed to complete the course. Impecunious students inevitably sought out the least demanding and cheapest courses, but raising fees would only have brought the colleges into direct and unequal competition with the universities. Before the creation of a centralized system of church examinations beginning in the 1870s, moreover, the minimal requirements demanded of ordinands by some bishops did little to assist efforts to impose higher standards. The marginal position of colleges combined with an absence of internal checks on the authority of the principals to create conditions in which a strong-willed and managerially incompetent appointment could swiftly bring an institution to ruin. This helps explain why bishops who had worked in the colleges could be as suspicious of their activities as those who had not. Dowland nevertheless argues that the colleges were victims of prejudice: their emphasis on pastoral training and concentration on theology could mean that their students received a better preparation for the ministry than those attending university, while there was no lack of ambition in the efforts of some colleges to match the width of the university curriculum. Rather than endorsing the contemporary claim that the colleges offered too “narrow” an education, Dowland suggests that scarce resources were sometimes squandered on misguided efforts to reproduce the Oxbridge experience in everything from curriculum to ceremonial and architecture. Many of these points are uncontentious and confirm arguments advanced in Haig’s work and other, unpublished, scholarship. Dowland’s own book, however, provides in itself an inadequate basis for his bolder claims for the...

A graduate profession won't solve everything

It is true that to meet the challenges of nursing care in the community and to meet the 'management of chronicity and the frailty of old age', as Dame June Clark puts it (Opinion September 1), nurses will need greater powers and increased knowledge. But to imagine that this will solve all recruitment and retention problems is wrong.

Nursing: an all graduate profession?

Nursing: an all graduate profession?

Graduate profession may be under threat

New funding arrangements could result in fewer nursing degree places

Universities want all graduate profession

Universities want all graduate profession