Learning and Working: The Occupational Socialization of Nurses

Frances Gordon, Professor of Interprofessional Education

Reason you chose this book

This book was published during completion, as a nurse educationalist, of a Master's degree at the University of Aberdeen. This book inspired my M.Ed dissertation by opening my eyes to the possibilities of grounded theory research, and subsequently informing my work in local relocation of nurse education to universities.

Review

Learning and working is based on Melia's PhD study that explored student nurse socialisation into the profession. The book provides an example of how grounded theory methodology within an ethnographic frame vividly brings to life a cultural context. The text provides an accessible read into how students following the apprenticeship model learned to survive their 'training'. The continued fascination of this book lies in how the categories of Melia's grounded theory: Fitting in; Learning the rules; Getting the work done; Learning and working and Passing through continue to resonate nearly thirty years later, despite a very different educational system.

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