The first undergraduate nursing students: a quantitative historical study of the Edinburgh degrees, 1960-1985

The aim of this article is to examine the experiences of the first 25 years of undergraduate nurses at the University of Edinburgh using a quantitative historical methodology.

In 1960, the University of Edinburgh, Nursing Studies Unit commenced the first undergraduate degree with nursing in the United Kingdom. By 1967, nursing was a component of the academic award itself.

A questionnaire was sent to 225 graduates of nursing at the University of Edinburgh through the alumni office. The questionnaire combined biographical data and a Likert scale.

Quantitative data can provide the historian with wide-ranging information about large groups of people, in this case undergraduate nurses. Although some of the responses may be more positive than what the participants felt at the time, the material provides useful information as to the experiences of early undergraduate nurses.

This article has generated a previously unknown material related to the experiences of the early undergraduate nurses at Edinburgh. For example, the respondents did not feel that the course was too difficult and it appears that the University was accepting nursing as an academic subject. The additional qualitative data provided by the respondents has offered potential for further study.