title: Historical theses on nursing and caring sciences in Finland: a literature review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this literature review was to review the theses (masters, licentiate and doctoral theses) on the history of nursing and caring sciences in Finland. The research questions were as follows: 1.What is the number and characteristics of these historical theses (target groups, methods and sources) on nursing and caring sciences have been produced in Finland? 2.What periods of time have been under investigation in these theses? 3.What topics have been investigated in these theses?
  
  
  METHODS
  The theses on the history of nursing and caring sciences were retrieved from the theses index of the universities that offer education in nursing and caring sciences in Finland. The literature search covered the time period 1979-2010. Altogether, 58 theses were reviewed and analysed via content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of all of the theses (n = 3969) produced in nursing and caring sciences, 58 of them focused on historical topics (<2%). The most common target group was healthcare personnel. The most common research method was the traditional historical method. Primary and secondary sources were used both together and separately. Nearly all of the theses examined the history of the 1900s, whereas only a few of them examined time periods before that. The four main topics of the theses were nursing practice, nursing education, nursing management and philosophy of nursing. The most common topic was nursing practice, especially psychiatric nursing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Research on the history of nursing and caring sciences in Finland has received only marginal attention from researchers. This literature review offers a description of the historical research produced on nursing and caring sciences and the topics of interest. In future, it will be necessary to more closely examine several historical topics that have been neglected in the study of nursing and caring sciences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lukana
authors.forename: Salminen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leena
authors.forename: Kaartinen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marjo
authors.forename: Leino-Kilpi
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Helena
mesh_terms: D005387:Finland; D006676:History of Nursing; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century