University Education in Caring Sciences in Finland

Nursing Research in Finland from 1958 to 1995

“…Overviews of nursing research are comparatively rare; this applies not only to Finland but other countries as well. However, in Finland several reviews that deserve mention, include those by Sinkkonen (1975Sinkkonen ( , 1988; Lauri (1990); Vehvilainen-Julkunen (1994); Pietila (1990) on licentiate theses in Finland; Heiskanen and Huopalahti (1985) on master's theses; Leino-Kilpi and Tuomaala (1989) on research ethics in master's theses; and, finally, a summary of Finnish nursing research by Merilainen and colleagues (1989).…”

“…The institute's mission was to "conduct scientific research in nursing and health care and to provide training for researchers in the field" (Lauri 1990). During the late 1950s and 1960s (Lauri 1990, Sinkkonen 1988 there was much public debate in Finland about academic nursing education.…”

Articles Published in Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Between 1987 and 1991

“…Norway invested in a university department of nursing science, whereas Sweden encouraged as many nurses as possible to work for doctoral degrees in disciplines related to nursing. In Finland and Denmark independent research institutes were established (Bjorn 1987, Kleppe 1987, Sinkkonen 1988, Hamrin 1988. But, as a whole, the five countries followed the same paths of development and also collaborated a great deal.…”

Review of Finnish Nursing Research from 1958 to 1995

“…Overviews of nursing research are comparatively rare. However, there are some Finnish reviews that deserve to be mentioned, such as the works by Sinkkonen (1) in 1988, by Lauri (2) in 1990, the overview by Vehvilainen-Julkunen (3) on the articles published in Hoitotiede (Nursing Science, the only Finnish refereebased nursing journal) from 1989-1993, the account by Pietila (4) of licentiate theses in Finland from 1982-1987, the study on research ethics in Master's theses by Leino-Kilpi & Tuomaala (5) in 1989 and the summary of Finnish nursing research presented by Merilainen et al (6) in 1989. On the basis of these accounts, some general trends can be identified.…”

“…There was a scarcity of methodological articles YO); the majority relied on quantitative methods. There are also some other overviews from Scandinavia, including a description of the development of nursing science in Scandinavia (8), a history of the Scandinavian Nurses' Association (9) as well as studies from Denmark (10-12), Norway (13), Sweden (14) and Finland (1). On the basis of these reviews, a common concern in this work has been to develop and improve the practice of nursing as well as the care of patients.…”