NUR4103

Historical inquiry in nursing

Ms L Heslop (Peninsula); Ms L Grant (Gippsland)

6 points * 12 hours per week (4 contact hours, 8 study hours) * First semester * Gippsland and Peninsula

Objectives At the completion of this subject the student shall be expected to compare and contrast different approaches to the study of nursing history; examine the conceptualisation of the nurse healer in history; contrast `modern' accounts of the history of the discipline of nursing with `postmodern' accounts; critically examine the development of nursing as a profession in Australia; evaluate the contributions of Australian nurse historians; engage the process of historical nursing inquiry.

Synopsis This subject provides a study of the historical development of nursing in both a global and local context. The subject takes as its starting point the representation of nurses as healers in early history and their formal organisation into a discipline in nineteenth-century Europe. Some time will be devoted to the development of a nursing practice discipline in Australia and its establishment as a profession. The subject considers the impact of European nursing practices on Australian nursing. Students will be directed to undertake an indepth review of historical literature and prepare a nursing history project.

Assessment Essay: 40% * Workshop: 30% * Project * 30%

Prescribed texts

McCoppin B and Gardner H Tradition and reality Longman Cheshire, 1994