An historical perspective on the treatment of vocation in the Briggs Report (1972)

Aims and objectives. To examine the vocational ideal in the Briggs Report (Briggs 1972), its evidence, context and interpretation. Background. As recently argued in Journal of Clinical Nursing, twentieth century reports have misrepresented nursing. This paper considers this argument in relation to the Briggs Report and its understanding of vocation. Design. Sources consulted: nursing periodicals 1960–1975, nursing textbooks 1937–1971, the Briggs Report, research studies on nursing 1961–1971, secondary works on nursing history. Included are three newly discovered major primary sources. Methods. An historiographical analysis of archival sources which interrogates primary and secondary evidence to make transparent interconnection, coherence, consistency and reliability. Results. Despite evidence from its own commissioned data that vocation was an important motivating factor, the Briggs Report recommended a new nursing model. Conclusion. The concept of vocation in nursing has been commonly interpreted as a cultural tool hindering the subsequent development of nursing. This approach has been a driver for policy decisions in nursing. Despite its own evidence, the Briggs Committee recommended far reaching changes, accepted by government and implemented over the following decade as Project 2000. The concept of vocation warrants further scholarship. Relevance to clinical practice. Whether the historical ideal of vocation remains important, negatively or positively, to the attitudes, values and motivations of the clinical nurse and the quality of patient care, is a relevant and significant issue for contemporary UK and international nursing practice and policy.