Many paths lead to nursing: factors influencing students' perceptions of nursing

Abstract

The recruitment of students to university needs to continue to support disparate entry pathways. Students with more life experience (older students) or health experience may be more likely to complete nursing courses and to be retained within health services. Qualities of nurses may be changing to reflect modern perceptions of nurses with a shift away from the focus on caring.

Changes in Nursing Students’ Attitudes Towards Nursing During Undergraduate Study

“…Th is can be seen in the results of this study, where at the end students less frequently expressed the view that nurses felt good about the work they did and that they continually improved their practices in line with trends in health care. Th e students with an unrealistic picture of the profession tended to give up their continuing and completing the study 27 . During student education, theoretical and practical training, it is necessary to pay due attention to the adoption of specifi c nursing knowledge, so that students can adopt positive professional identity and work as nurses after graduation.…”

Professional identity and nursing: contemporary theoretical developments and future research challenges

“…1999; Scott 2008). A recent study of 676 new nursing students found that caring was not a highly ranked quality and that perceptions of nursing may indeed be changing to reflect a more modern image of nursing with a shift away from the focus on caring (Cowin & Johnson, 2011). Some research challenges the legitimacy of these concerns, showing that caring still plays a crucial role in the nurse–patient relationship (Jonsdottir et al.…”

Constructing a nursing identity within the clinical environment: The student nurse experience

“…Immersing students in a learning environment with positive role models and adequate peer support, particularly early in their undergraduate programme, will contribute to a healthy professional identity. Given the positive correlation between nursing identity and the transition from student to graduate nurse and retention rates (Cowin et al, 2006;Cowin & Johnson, 2011;Kelly & Ahern, 2009) monitoring of students emerging nursing identity throughout the undergraduate programme is essential. If policy makers are genuinely looking to make a difference to the declining health workforce then the influence of clinical learning environment on students nursing identity should be a priority.…”