7. 8. 9.

(a) “Ideas in general”.

In order to obtain information about general attitudes towards nursing as a job, informants were asked (Question 2): “What are your ideas in general about the life and work of a nurse?”

The question was an open one, and interviewers wrote down the answer just as it was given to them.

It was found that answers could be classified under nine main headings, as follows

(1) Favourable and unqualified. e.g. “nice job”, “interesting job”, “good career”, “good life”, “learn useful things”, etc.

(2) Favourable but qualified. In this category were placed answers such as those in (1) which were qualified by such remarks as “but it is a hard life”, or “but the pay, hours, etc. are bad”.

(3) Socially useful work. e.g. “helping other people”, “self-sacrificing”, “noble”, “doing a splendid job”, “I admire nurses”.

(4) A special vocation. e.g. “you need to .be very keen on it”, “nurses are born not made”, “have to be devoted to the work”, “a nice job for those who are really keen on it”.

(5) Unfavourable. e.g. “a nasty job”, “would not like it”, “rotten life”, etc.

(6) Hard, e.g. “a hard life”, “hard work”, without further comments. These answers, though they are a special case of (5), were classified separately, as it was found they came up frequently.

(7) Hard and bad conditions. Answers such as (6) with additional comments such as “bad pay”, “long hours”, “bad conditions”.

(8) Bad conditions only. e.g. “bad pay”, “long hours”, “bad living conditions”, e[Text Missing]

(9) Don’t know. Don’t know much about it.

These replies may be further grouped as follows:-

I Favourable (1), (2) and (3).

II A special vocation (4).

III Unfavourable (5), (6), (7) and (8).

IV Don’t know (9).

The table below shows the proportions of working women and of secondary schoolgirls giving the different types of answer.

It will be seen that in each of the two groups roughly a third gave replies on the whole favourable towards nursing. A rather higher proportion of schoolgirls than of working women qualified their favourable replies by comments on conditions, etc.

Amongst working women a higher proportion gave negative “don’t know” answers than amongst schoolgirls. Of the schoolgirls a greater proportion gave unfavourable replies.

The schoolgirls as a group show a more critical attitude than the working women.

Analysis of the replies of working women by occupation group is given below. Figures are given only for the major groups of replies, the numbers included being too small to show up statistically significant differences as between the finer groupings.

The proportion showing an unfavourable attitude is relatively high amongst clerical workers. In the Miscellaneous and Distributive groups rather higher proportions gave favourable replies.

Calculation of χ ² for the table as a whole shows that differences observed between different occupation groups are unlikely to have arisen through chance.

(Fisher's tables) χ ² = 49.39

r = 12

P = less than .01

Analysis of these results by age groups shows no statistically significant differences.

Results for regions are as follows:-

In Scotland and the North relatively high proportions said they did not know much about nursing. The proportions giving positive answers are correspondingly higher in other regions. No particular region is markedly more unfavourable than others. The view that nursing is a job for which people need to be particularly well suited is held rather more frequently in the Southern region and rather less frequently in Scotland.

There are no statistically significant differences between results for those living in urban and rural areas.

Analysis by education is as follows:-

A higher proportion of those with elementary education only say they do not know much about nursing. Those having further education show a slightly higher proportion with unfavourable attitudes.

It will be remembered that comparison of the attitudes of all working women with those of secondary schoolgirls showed that a greater proportion of schoolgirls expressed unfavourable opinions and a smaller proportion said they did not know enough about nursing to give an opinion, the proportions in the two groups showing favourable attitudes being fairly even.

It may be inferred from these results that those who reach a higher standard of education tend to show a more critical attitude towards nursing than others without being any less favourable towards it.

The classification given above aimed at measuring general attitudes only, and the different types of reply given were treated as mutually exclusive. However, it will be seen that in some cases the same particular aspect of nursing is mentioned by informants whose general attitudes are classified as being different from one another. For instance, the idea that nursing is “a hard life” or “hard work” is expressed both by some of those who show a favourable but qualified attitude, and those who show an unfavourable attitude in general. In addition to those who mentioned only bad working conditions, some of those who showed a generally favourable attitude mentioned also that the pay was bad, or the hours too long. Amongst those who gave an unqualified favourable reply, some said that nursing was an “interesting” job and others were less specific.

The proportions mentioning some particular aspects of nursing were as follows:-

(It should be noted that some of these ideas come up with greater frequency in answer to the more specific questions about the advantages and disadvantages of nursing as a career, of which results are given on the next pages.)

It will be seen that of the schoolgirls, as many as half said that nursing was a “hard job” or a “hard life”, and that rather a higher proportion of schoolgirls than of working women criticised the pay.

It is interesting to compare these results with an analysis of the replies of the working women made by education.

Those with a higher standard of education show a higher proportion saying “hard life” or “hard work”, and also they more frequently criticise the working conditions.

Analysis by occupation showed that of clerical workers 33 ± 5% said “hard life” or “hard work”, 13 ± 3% said that the hours were too long, and 10 ± 3% that the pay was bad. Of the clerical workers 35% had been to elementary schools only and 65% had further education as against 75% elementary only and 25% further education in the whole sample for England and Wales.

Analysis by age shows a trend in the proportions in the different groups criticising the pay, and also mentioning the need to be strong.

Of the two younger groups (together, 16 - 24) 15% said the work or life was interesting as against 11% giving this answer in the two older groups.

That the older women, and women and girls with a standard of education above the average, should consider the pay inadequate more frequently than other groups is perhaps due to the fact that in general these do expect a higher rate of pay.

Those with a higher standard of education more frequently take up sedentary occupations and it is perhaps for this reason that the life and work of a nurse seems to be “harder” to them than to those who are more frequently accustomed to doing manual work.

Replies to the next two questions dealing with the advantages and disadvantages of nursing as a career throw more light on this.

10. 11.

(b) Advantage and Attractions

Informants were asked “Considering nursing as a career what do you think are the main advantages or attractions”. (Question 3 (a) )

A higher proportion of the working women than of the schoolgirls answered “Don’t know”. Consequently the proportions of schoolgirls mentioning different sorts of advantages are generally higher than the proportions of working women doing so. It should be noted that some informants gave more than one reply and therefore the percentages add to more than 100.

The answer “Useful to the community”, etc. was more frequently given by schoolgirls than by working women. In the case of both groups, however, this is the most frequently mentioned advantage. The ideas that nurses gain knowledge that is likely to be useful to them in life apart from in their career, and that the work is interesting and varied are also thought to be attractions by considerable proportions.

“Mix with different people.” “May travel” is an advantage given much more frequently by schoolgirls than by working women.

It should be noted that the answers classified as “miscellaneous” include a proportion who said they could think of no advantages.

Analysis by occupation shows some differences in the proportions answering “Don’t know” and “Useful to the community, etc.”

It will be seen that the proportions answering “Don’t know” in the clerical and miscellaneous groups are relatively low. Also this answer is given less frequently by distributive workers than by factory workers.

Clerical workers show a relatively high proportion answering “Useful to the community, etc.”. The proportions in different occupation groups giving other types of answers show no statistically significant differences.

Analysis by education also shows a difference in the case of these two answers.

Other analyses made by age groups, region, and urban and rural areas show no statistically significant differences.

12. 13.

(c) Disadvantages and Drawbacks

In order to find out what were the chief resistances to taking up nursing, informants were asked: “Considering nursing as a career, what do you think are the main disadvantages or drawbacks?” (Question3(b)).

The table below shows the frequencies with which working women and schoolgirls made different sorts of replies. As in the case of advantages some gave more than one answer and therefore the percentages shown add to more than 100.

Long hours and poor pay are by far the most frequently mentioned objections, the length of working hours and lack of leisure being a rather more important consideration than the pay.

It will be remembered that schoolgirls more frequently than working women expressed the idea that a nurses’ life was a “hard” one in giving their general ideas about nursing. A higher proportion of schoolgirls than of working women mentioned this aspect as a disadvantage or drawback of the career.

Unpleasant sights, discipline, the fact that you have to leave home, and the long hard training are further causes of resistance, but are not of such great importance as hours and pay.

Fear of infection is negligible as a deterrent.

As in the case of the advantages “Miscellaneous” includes a proportion who said they could not think of any.

The proportion of working women answering “Don’t know” is greater than the proportion of schoolgirls giving this answer, as in other questions.

Pay is a more important consideration with schoolgirls than with working women.

An analysis of the most frequently mentioned disadvantages and of the “Don’t know” answers by occupation group is given below.

Hours and pay are mentioned more frequently by clerical workers than by other groups, and a lower proportion in the clerical group answered “Don’t know”.

“Unpleasant sights” are given rather more frequently by the factory non-war group than by others.

Results for distributive workers, the miscellaneous group and factory war-workers approximate fairly closely to the average for the whole sample.

Analysis of the disadvantages given by age group shows that in the youngest group (aged 16 to 20) rather smaller proportions mentioned hours and pay and a rather larger proportion answered “Don’t know”.

The only other statistically significant difference shown by the age breakdown is in the proportions saying “hard work” or “hard life”.

Results for regions are as follows. Results are shown for the four most frequently mentioned disadvantages, for “Can’t live at home” and for “Don’t know”. No differences can be observed in the case of the less frequently given answers.

About the same proportion in all regions mention the length of working hours. Bad pay is mentioned rather less frequently in the North than in other regions and rather more frequently in London and Scotland. “Unpleasant sights” is mentioned less in Scotland than elsewhere.

The proportions answering “Don’t know” are smaller in London and the South than in other regions.

As in the case of other questions, a higher proportion of those with elementary education only answered “Don’t know”. Hours and pay are mentioned more frequently by those with a higher standard of education.

(d) Ideas about Midwifery

Informants were asked: What are your ideas about midwifery as a career?” (Question 4). About half the sample had no ideas about midwifery in the case of both working women and schoolgirls.

Replies were as follows:-

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

(e) Attitudes towards taking up nursing

In order to find out to what proportion of girls nursing or midwifery had appealed as jobs at some time during their life, informants were asked: “Had you at any time a desire to take up either nursing or midwifery as a career?” (Question 1)

Replies from working women and schoolgirls were as follows:-

In comparing results for the two groups, it should be borne in mind that the sample of working women excludes nurses. That is to say, it is the sample of working women who did not take up nursing. The sample of schoolgirls is representative of secondary schoolgirls as a whole, and includes a proportion who may actually take up nursing when they leave school. In fact, 28% of those schoolgirls who said they had at some time wanted to take up nursing (representing 10% of the whole sample of schoolgirls) thought that they would take up nursing when they left school.

There are small differences in the replies given by the different occupation groups.

The miscellaneous group shows a significantly higher proportion than the average who had wished to take up nursing, or midwifery at some time. It will be remembered that this group and the distributive group showed a slightly more favourable attitude towards nursing as a career.

Calculation of χ ² for this table gives a value of χ ² = 16.12, P = less than. 05 It is probable, therefore, that there are some differences between occupation groups Analysis by age shows a difference only in the case of the oldest group.

Analyses by region and by urban and rural areas show no statistically significant differences.

Results for the two education groups are as follows:

It will be seen that a rather higher proportion of those who had been to secondary schools, etc. than of those who had been only to elementary schools said that they had at some time wished to nurse.

Schoolgirls who said they had wanted to nurse at some time were asked whether or not they were going to become nurses when they left school. Replies were as follows:-

Those who wanted to but did not think they were going to were asked why they were not going to. The numbers asked the question are too small to give percentage results, but it may be said that about a half said they had subsequently decided on some other career, such as teaching, about a fifth that their parents had dissuaded them, and others that they had changed their minds on account of the working conditions of nurses.

Working women said they had at some time wished to take up nursing or midwifery were asked why they did not do so. The reasons given were as follows:-

Thus 59% of those asked gave fairly specific reasons for not having taken up nursing. The most frequent deterrent was the need to have a job right away or to have money, and 14% said they could not take a nursing job at the time when they wanted to because they were too young. Reluctance to leave home was another important factor preventing women from becoming nurses.

29% of those asked said that they had changed their minds, that is to say having once wished to nurse they had later decided against it, 11% said that this was because they had found out more about the job and decided that after all they would not like it.

Thus about three-fifths of those who had wanted to take up nursing said they had been prevented from doing so by circumstances, and with rather more than a quarter it had been a passing desire only. Of course, it is possible that some of these who said they were prevented by circumstances would not have taken up nursing even if the circumstances had been favourable, as they might have changed their minds later in any case.

This question dealt with former attitudes towards nursing. Another question was asked to find out what present attitudes, in the setting of war-time conditions and call-up, were towards taking up nursing.

Informants were asked “Have you thought of volunteering for nursing if and when you are called up?” (Question 11)

17% of the working women thought that this question did not apply to them. Either they had already been directed to their present employment by the Ministry of Labour or were for particular reasons to be allowed to stay in their present job. In the case of schoolgirls, the question was universally applicable.

The table below shows the proportions of the whole sample and of those to whom the question applied giving different answers.

Thus, of the working women 16% and of the schoolgirls 26% said they were thinking of volunteering for nursing when called up. A further 9% and 8% respectively in the two groups were doubtful.

Analysis by occupation groups is as follows:-

It will be seen that the proportions to whom the question does not apply vary considerable being highest in the factory war-work group and lowest in the clerical group.

Individual differences between the proportions in the different groups answering Yes, No Doubtful are slight, and not statistically significant. However, it will be seen that such differences as there are correspond with the tendencies shown by the analysis of other question, from which it appears that the Miscellaneous and Distributive groups are rather more favourable in their attitude towards nursing than other groups, and Clerical Workers rather less so.

There are marked differences between age groups.

As might be expected, the youngest group shows a lower proportion to whom the question does not apply. Many of the girls in this group will not yet have reached calling up age.

The proportions saying they are thinking of volunteering for nursing when called up decrease as age increases. Similarly with the doubtful answers.

It will be remembered that in considering general attitudes towards nursing, older women were found to be slightly less favourable than younger women, and also that a higher proportion of the older women noted “bad pay” as a disadvantage.

Analyses made by region, by urban and rural areas and by education show no statistically significant differences.

Those who did not think they would volunteer for nursing were asked “Why would you not choose nursing?” (Question 11d.) Replies were as follows:-

In the case of the schoolgirls a positive preference for other types of work or for the Services is more marked. The proportions of working women saying that they would not like it or would not be any good at it are higher than proportions of schoolgirls giving these answers.

Those who were doubtful as to whether or not they would volunteer for nursing were asked: “What makes you doubtful?” (Question 11 e.) Results below are given for working women only as the number of schoolgirls asked this question was too small to give reliable results.

Those who said they thought they would volunteer for nursing when called up were asked: “What made you decide this way?” (Question 11a.)

The number of schoolgirls asked this question is not sufficient to give percentage results.

The same group were asked: “Are you considering nursing as war work only or as a career?” (Question 11b.)

Rather less than half had definitely decided to take up nursing as a career, and about a third intended to take it up as war-work only.

Those who only intended to take up nursing as war-work or who were doubtful were asked their reasons for this. (Question 11 e.)

The number of schoolgirls asked this question was not sufficient for results to be given.

(f) Attitudes towards Specialising

Those who said in answer to Question 1 that at some time they had wanted to take up nursing were asked: “Would you like to specialise in any particular branch of nursing? What?” (Question 1c.)

The question was unproductive as the majority of those asked had not thought about nursing sufficiently to have, any ideas about specialising. One interest, however, stands out, the wish to specialise in children’s nursing.

The number of schoolgirls asked this question is not sufficient for percentage results to be given, however, it may be said that about a quarter of those asked said they would like to nurse children.