| Atlanta, Georgia, home to many civil rights leaders, played a leading role in the events of the 1960s. Georgia Baptist Hospital, with its adjoining dormitory for the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing (GBHSN), was situated in the heart of Atlanta. Sequestered in their rooms, students of GBHSN witnessed many events in the 196Os from their dormitory windows. The purpose of this study was to recover, record, analyze, and archive the oral histories of nurses who were students at GBHSN during the 1960s.;This study utilized oral histories as the method of conducting nursing historical research. The voices of former student nurses were heard expressing their thoughts and feelings on not only nurses' and student nurses' work, but also their perspectives on politics, war, race, labor, class, and women's rights. Sources included the oral histories as well as pictures, yearbooks, and primary documents from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing archives. Five themes emerged as the women reminisced about their days as students of GBHSN: taking advantage of opportunities, `from my dorm window," "through the tunnel, " "a power situation," and "all the friendships and honor GBH has shown. ".;This research carried pronounced significance because of the scarcity of research about nursing students in the 1960s. There are several published articles about nurses in the 1960s, but few where nursing students' voices are heard providing their own account. This research contributed to the heritage of GBHSN as well as added to the nursing history research knowledge base of nursing students in that decade. Like the 1960s, contemporary society, health care, nursing, and nursing education are undergoing radical changes. Looking back and listening to the voices of the past can facilitate an enhanced perception of the present and contribute perspective to the future. These oral histories illuminated the lives of student nurses who took advantage of the opportunities for education by enrolling in and completing nursing school at GBHSN. Without initial significant power or influence as women, the narrators' stories describe how nursing school and a nursing diploma enabled them to generate changes in their lives, communities of influence, and nursing. |
