Factors Affecting The Career Choices of Nursing Students

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the career choices of nursing students. Methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of 1329 nursing students studying in the Department of Nursing during the Spring term of 2016-2017. A sample was not selected, and instead the whole population was studied. The study was completed with 776 nursing students (participation rate 58.3%). An ethics committee and board approvals were obtained prior to the study. The data was obtained using a Student Information Form, and the Nursing Career Decision Scale. The data was analyzed using independent samples t test, and a one-way ANOVA. Descriptive analyzes used were mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage. Results: Percentage of 64.2 of the students reported “Low unemployment rate” as their career choice reason. The NCDS mean score of the students was 50.64±15.30, the mean scores for “congruence” and “survival/need” subscales were respectively 52.67±19.90, and 46.91±16.40. The statement “I have always wanted to help people” had the most important impact in career choices of the students with a score of 77.09±25.37. There was a significant difference between the NCDS mean scores and grade, gender, selecting the career willingly, order of preference, and the society’s views towards the occupation (p<0.05). Conclusion: The most important factor for the students for choosing the career was high employment rate, and the mean scores of the congruence subscale were higher than the scores of the survival/need subscale