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Recruitment to nursing is currently seen as a major challenge for the profession. It is tempting to assume that the difficulty is a new one. However, a close examination of the archive for one major teaching hospital in the North West of England suggests that recruitment might be seen as a perennial problem. This paper is based on an examination of the archives for the Manchester Royal Infirmary for the years 1920 to 1940. It focuses, in particular on issues of recruitment to nurse training at the infirmary and how these issues were resolved. The current problems faced by the nursing profession have sometimes been considered to relate to the fact that nursing is no longer promoted as a ‘suitable career for a woman’. The assumption that the ethos of service now militates against the attractiveness of nursing to women may be a false one. The realisation that recruitment to nursing has always been problematic may force a reconsideration of the issue, and a recognition that it is necessary to look to basic issues such as salary, working conditions and accommodation, in resolving this problem. A comparison of the Manchester Royal Infirmary archives for the 1920s and some current policy documents relating to British nurse recruitment prompt the observation that, in the absence of fundamental social change, each new era will continue to encounter the same difficulties as its forebears. In other words: ‘plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose’. Methodology

As part of an English National Boardfunded research study, the authors sent questionnaires to 2500 individuals with community nursing qualifications. The survey was complemented by a series of interviews with community nurse managers. Data indicated that community nurses were spending very considerable amounts of time with students. The number of placements provided per year varied considerably from one respondent to another, as did the average duration of a placement. Community nurses were providing community experience for a variety of types of nursing students, as well as students of other professions, and the time commitment involved placed them under considerable strain. The authors conclude that there is a need to recognise the time given by community nurses to work with students, and the resource implications of this commitment.