Career interest, self-efficacy, and perception in undecided and nursing undergraduate students: a quantitative study

Global overview of factors influencing nursing students to pursue nursing career: A scoping review of the past decade with future implications

BACKGROUND

Understanding the factors that influence nursing students' career choices is vital for tackling the nursing shortage, especially when aiming to attract, motivate, and retain individuals in the profession. However, these factors may have evolved over time, and existing literature reviews might not capture the latest changes and trends affecting the current context.

AIM

To synthesize the literature on factors influencing nursing as a career choice over the past decade.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted. The search was restricted to full-text English articles published from 2014 to 2024 in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. The searching and screening processes were conducted from March 26th to August 5th, 2024. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research articles that discussed nursing career choices were included. The review involved five steps: formulating the question, locating relevant studies, selecting studies, charting data, and summarizing and presenting findings. Data charting was carried out in all included studies using an extraction table. A thematic analysis approach was employed to categorize and group the factors.

RESULTS

A total of 49 articles were selected for final analysis. The findings were grouped into six themes: 1) personal desire, 2) social influence, 3) career opportunities, 4) job flexibility, 5) nursing educational program, and 6) the impact of pandemic. These themes align with the Career Sailboat Model, highlighting how personal motivations, social dynamics, systemic factors, and unpredictable chance elements shape nursing students' decisions.

CONCLUSION

The review emphasizes the importance of addressing systemic barriers, enhancing diversity, and aligning nursing education with cultural and regional healthcare needs. Strategic efforts to improve accessibility, inclusivity, and collaboration can strengthen recruitment and retention, preparing nursing professionals to meet the challenges of an evolving healthcare environment.

The role of artificial intelligence literacy and innovation mindset in shaping nursing students' career and talent self-efficacy

BACKGROUND

As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms nursing education, AI literacy is becoming a critical necessity for increasing the career potential and talent of nursing students. Additionally, fostering an innovation mindset promotes adaptability, creativity and openness to new approaches, further boosting students' confidence in their careers. However, few studies have examined the impact of these competencies on nursing students' career and talent self-efficacy, underscoring the need for further investigation.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the moderating effect of AI literacy on the associations between an innovation mindset and nursing students' career and talent self-efficacy.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

Data were collected from 596 nursing students who were enrolled in the College of Nursing at Alexandria University, Egypt. Three scales, namely, innovative thinking competencies, assessment of nonexperts' AI literacy and career and talent development self-efficacy, were used. Data were collected during the academic year 2023-2024. Hypotheses were tested via correlation and regression analyses.

RESULTS

This study revealed that nursing students had moderate levels of AI literacy, innovation mindset and career and talent self-efficacy. Nursing students' career and talent self-efficacy were significantly predicted by their innovative mindset and AI literacy. AI literacy significantly moderates the relationship between nursing students' innovation mindset and their career and talent self-efficacy, making it more positive.

CONCLUSION

This study highlighted that fostering awareness with AI-driven tools could cultivate innovative thinking among nursing students and augment confidence in their talents.

IMPLICATIONS

This study underscores that encouraging nursing talent and career aspirations requires the integration of AI literacy and innovative thinking as core competencies in nursing curricula.

Hesitancy among Iranian nursing students regarding future career trajectory: a qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

The shortage of skilled nurses is a major concern for health systems worldwide. This may be partly due to the hesitancy of some nurses to enter or remain in the nursing career. This shortage consequently reduces the quality of standard patient care, increases patients' length of stay in a hospital, increases medical costs, and results in patients' dissatisfaction. This study aimed to explore hesitancy among senior undergraduate nursing students to pursue a career in nursing.

METHODS

This qualitative study adopted a thematic analysis approach. The population comprised senior undergraduate nursing students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, who indicated that they were hesitant to pursue a career in nursing. The study sampling was performed from May 2021 till February 2022 and continued until data saturation. Twenty-four interviews were conducted with the selected students. The attributes related to hesitancy among senior undergraduate nursing students to pursue a career in nursing were extracted as themes and sub-themes.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: academic idiosyncrasies, individual characteristics, poor nursing market regulations (sub-themes: nursing as a tough and intense career, and unfavorable employment contracts), and the peculiarities of the workplace (sub-themes: conflict within work environment, and barriers to professional nursing practice).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study showed that senior undergraduate nursing students weigh their future career options from various academic, personal, professional, and work environment dimensions. The findings provide new insights for decision makers to design and implement innovative strategies to promote retention in nursing careers. We recommend to provide academic counseling for all students and applicants of nursing before they enter the nursing education. Furthermore, we suggest to improve study and work environments, and to implement incentive programs to enhance enthusiasm of nursing students for pursuing a nursing career.

Impact of a Regional Grant Program Through the Lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory: A Mixed-Method Evaluation

PURPOSE

Evaluations of educational grant programs have focused on research productivity, with few examining impacts on grantees or effective program characteristics. This evaluation examined the regional grant program sponsored by Group on Educational Affairs to examine if and how grantees' careers were affected by funding, and if these experiences aligned with program goals.

METHOD

In this concurrent, mixed-methods theory-driven evaluation, quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed independently and then integrated to examine complementarity. Quantitative data examined differences among 4 geographic regions and included proposal and grantee characteristics abstracted from administrative records of 52 funded proposals from 2010-2015 grant cycles. Qualitative data from 23 interviews conducted from 2018 to 2019 explored the impact on grantees, with Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) serving as a framework for deductive thematic analysis. To facilitate integration of findings, quantitative data were layered onto each interview to permit exploration of associations between the 2 data types.

RESULTS

Although significant regional differences existed in project length and amount of funding, there were few regional differences in grantee experiences. Despite small funding amounts, grants were perceived as career launching pads. The SCCT framework accounted for grantee experiences, including researcher identity formation and subsequent research, but did not capture collaboration phenomena. Integration of the 2 data types identified experience patterns unique to different groups of grantees (e.g., more or less research experience). The diversity among grantees suggests that clarification of program goals and stronger alignment with criteria for funding may be warranted.

CONCLUSIONS

This evaluation illuminates why small educational grant programs may or may not impact interest and productivity in research. Implications exist for funders, including clarifying program goals and providing support for less experienced grantees. Future research should explore grantee subsets (e.g., underrepresented in medicine) to further identify what fosters or inhibits careers of medical education scholars.

Development and psychometric testing of the perception of nursing profession instrument

BACKGROUND

Perceptions of the nursing profession influence career choices in nursing. An unrealistic perception might lead students to drop out of nursing education programmes. Objective measurement of the nursing applicants' perceptions at the student selection stage could enhance their career choices in nursing.

AIM

To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Perception of Nursing Profession Instrument (PNPI).

DESIGN

Mixed method design.

METHOD

Two versions of the PNPI were developed during the years 2016-2022. The first version was based on documents describing the nursing profession and the second version was based on an integrative literature review, a focus groups study and a document analysis of descriptions of the nursing profession. The meta-ethnographic approach was used to synthesize the results and form a theoretical framework for developing the PNPI (60 items). Item content validity was evaluated by an expert panel of nurses (n = 7). The psychometric properties of the instrument were analysed using the item response theory approach.

RESULTS

The development process resulted in the 40-item PNPI with the following subscales: the content of nursing work, the career in nursing, the nature of nursing work and the characteristics of a nurse. The psychometric analysis revealed unidimensionality and goodness of fit to the partial credit model; however, the item difficulty was not well matched with the participants' abilities.

CONCLUSION

The PNPI is a novel instrument for objectively measuring perceptions of the nursing profession. For further development, item difficulty must be enhanced to improve the measurement accuracy of the nursing applicants' perceptions of the nursing profession.

IMPACT

Perceptions of the nursing profession influence career choices, but there is a lack of objective assessment instruments that can be used in nursing student selection setting to measure the perception. The results of this study offer an instrument to measure perception, while also suggesting ideas for further development.

Career Development in Highly Sex-typed Postsecondary Vocational Technical Education Programs: A Social Cognitive Analysis

Using social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we examined the career development of students in sex-typed postsecondary Vocational Technical Education (VTE) programs in the Chilean context. We assessed the moderating effects of students’ socioeconomic background, sex, membership to the sex-atypical group, and the intersection of these attributes across SCCT measures and the model’s predicted relationships. The results showed that students in sex-atypical careers, particularly low-income students, perceived supports and barriers differently, and that supports and barriers have different effects on self-efficacy and outcome beliefs. We also found differences between female and male students in these careers path, which suggests that the former face more challenges. However, we also found that their career development process unfolds similarly, suggesting that strategies designed to support these groups may be equally helpful for female and male students. We discuss the findings in light of prior literature and offer practical implications for VTE institutions.

The effectiveness of a career efficacy enhancement program for KOREAN nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Nursing students tend not to consider their career paths during their college years but if they enter nursing without having established a career identity during college, they will have low job satisfaction and high turnover intentions.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a career efficacy enhancement program on nursing students' career decision, identity, preparation behavior, and efficacy.

DESIGN

A two-group, quasi-experimental design was used.

SETTING

The study took place at two universities in South Korea.

PARTICIPANTS

Overall, 69 baccalaureate nursing students participated.

METHODS

Two program booklets and a workbook were developed for a career efficacy enhancement program that ran in 2018. Data were collected at three timepoints and analyzed using a Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and a repeated measures ANOVA.

RESULTS

Career identity differed significantly between groups (p = 0.005), measurement times (p = 0.000), and in the interaction between groups and measurement times (p = 0.000). Career decision differed significantly between groups (p = 0.009), measurement times (p = 0.013), and in the interaction between groups and measurement times (p = 0.002). Career preparation behavior did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.550) but did differ significantly between measurement times (p = 0.000) and in the interaction between groups and measurement times (p = 0.001). Career efficacy did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.213) but did differ significantly between measurement times (p = 0.000) and in the interaction between groups and measurement times (p = 0.000).

CONCLUSION

The career efficacy enhancement program improved nursing students' career decision skills, identities, preparation behavior, and efficacy.

Analysis of Factors Associated to the Enrollment and Demand of Computing-Related Careers

Despite the great need for computer-related career professionals, some universities that offer specialties to develop professionals with knowledge to cover the mention need, present a decrease in enrollment, which can cause a wide variety of problems. That is why in this paper we set out to investigate what the main factors that directly or indirectly affect student enrollment in computer-related careers are, to establish a literature-based starting point, and to help select the best possible strategy to improve enrollment. To reach this goal, we did a documentary research, categorizing each one of the factors with its respective analysis. In the results, we explain several challenges that educators face, due to the evolution of society needs, two of them are: teaching-learning models and technology; besides, it became evident that the relevance of this academic programs remain available since there is a high demand for these professionals in Mexico, as well as in the world; finally, we showed some intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that have an essential relevance at the time that a student chooses the career to study. On the other hand, we reflected that the perception of everything that involves the study of a Computing-related career is a factor to be considered in the selection of an educational program of higher education. This study could be a reference for universities that are facing decreasing enrollment concerns. In conclusion, we analyzed and identified the main factors that have an impact on the demand for a career related to engineering, providing possible lines of action for increasing school enrollment.

Relationships between optimism, educational environment, career adaptability and career motivation in nursing undergraduates: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

For solving the problem of the abandonment of the career in nursing undergraduates, it is important to understand their motivation to choose nursing as a career and its associated personal and situational factors.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the relationships between optimism, educational environment, career adaptability, and career motivation in nursing undergraduates using the career construction model of adaptation.

DESIGN

This study adopted a cross-sectional design.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

A convenience sample of 1060 nursing undergraduates from three universities completed questionnaires for measuring optimism, educational environment, career adaptability, and career motivation. Confirmatory factor analyses, descriptive analyses, comparison analyses, correlation analyses, and mediation analyses were performed accordingly.

RESULTS

Nursing undergraduates' career motivation was positively correlated with their career adaptability (r = 0.41, P < 0.01), the educational environment (r = 0.60, P < 0.01), and optimism (r = 0.26, P < 0.01). In addition, the effects of optimism and educational environment on career motivation were partially mediated by career adaptability in nursing undergraduates.

CONCLUSIONS

In nursing undergraduates, the educational environment had a relatively strong positive association with career motivation, while optimism had a weak one. Career adaptability played a mediating role in the relationships. Targeted interventions may improve nursing undergraduates' career motivation.

Northern Ghana final-year nurses' attitudes towards nursing and remaining post qualification

Background

Recruitment and retention concerns nursing globally, including Ghana, as the country attempts to meet health demands. A link exists between nursing students’ attitudes towards nursing and decisions to enter, remain in or withdraw from the profession.

Objectives

To describe northern Ghana final-year student nurses’ current attitudes towards nursing and remaining in nursing post qualification.

Method

Non-experimental quantitative descriptive design used convenient sampling targeting final third-year student nurses (n = 80) studying towards a Diploma in Registered General Nursing in a northern Ghana college (N = 220). Data were gathered using the attitude dimension of a self-administered questionnaire, developed by Al-Omar.

Results

The response rate was 87.5% (n = 70). Respondents were 20–30 years of age, more men and predominantly from urban areas. The mean attitude dimension score (range 10–50) was 35.41 (SD 4.03) with no skewness (0.37); mean of single-item question about intention to stay in nursing was 3.68 (SD 1.14) with negative skewness (-0.92). Male and urban respondents’ attitudes were more positive than those of female respondents. No association was found between attitude score and demographics or intention to stay in nursing, but significant association was found between gender and habitation and attitude categories. Medium positive correlation existed between intent to stay in nursing and attitude score. Pay, travel opportunities and nursing being a challenging career attracted unfavourable attitudes.

Conclusion

Ghanaian male student nurses’ attitudes are non-typical of general stereotypes held of nurses and gender, suggesting increased recruitment of male nurses. Demographic variables hold a small amount of value in the development of attitudes in Ghanaian nurses.

The "new normal": Adapting doctoral trainee career preparation for broad career paths in science

Doctoral recipients in the biomedical sciences and STEM fields are showing increased interest in career opportunities beyond academic positions. While recent research has addressed the interests and preferences of doctoral trainees for non-academic careers, the strategies and resources that trainees use to prepare for a broad job market (non-academic) are poorly understood. The recent adaptation of the Social Cognitive Career Theory to explicitly highlight the interplay of contextual support mechanisms, individual career search efficacy, and self-adaptation of job search processes underscores the value of attention to this explicit career phase. Our research addresses the factors that affect the career search confidence and job search strategies of doctoral trainees with non-academic career interests and is based on nearly 900 respondents from an NIH-funded survey of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the biomedical sciences at two U.S. universities. Using structural equation modeling, we find that trainees pursuing non-academic careers, and/or with low perceived program support for career goals, have lower career development and search process efficacy (CDSE), and receive different levels of support from their advisors/supervisors. We also find evidence of trainee adaptation driven by their career search efficacy, and not by career interests.

“The Good Ole’ Girls’ Nursing Club”: The Male Student Perspective

Background: Diversity in nursing remains limited with little progress made in the recruitment of males. The purpose of this research was to garner the male nursing students’ perspectives of their lived experiences while enrolled in their undergraduate program. Method: A phenomenological group focus approach was utilized with male nursing students regarding their lived experiences of what factors support or negate their being successful in completing a nursing program. Results: Four themes were interpreted: exclusion, gender bias, career expectations, and acceptance. Exclusion and gender bias were seen as negative impact factors, while career expectations was both a motivating factor and a negating factor. Acceptance was interpreted as an important positive factor. Conclusion: A call for change to the profession of nursing from a culture of the “good ole’ girls’ nursing club” to one of “great nurses from both genders and all ethnicities” is critical for the future growth of the profession.

Association between self-efficacy, career interest and rural career intent in Australian medical students with rural clinical school experience

OBJECTIVES

To investigate medical student's self-efficacy at the time of finishing their rural clinical school (RCS) placement and factors associated with self-efficacy. Secondary aims are to explore whether interest levels or self-efficacy are associated with rural or remote career intentions.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

A cross-sectional study of medical students who had completed their RCS term in 17 Australian universities. Data were derived from the 2013 Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators (FRAME) evaluation survey. Questionnaire responses were analysed from 653 medical students from regional Australia. All 732 students who completed their RCS term in 2013 were invited to participate.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Rural self-efficacy: Six questions to measure self-efficacy beliefs in rural medical practice, based on the sources of self-efficacy described by Bandura. Rural career intention: Students were asked to identify their preferred location for future practice. The options were, Capital or Major City; Inner regional city or large town; Smaller town and very remote area.

RESULTS

Questionnaire responses were analysed from 653 medical students from regional Australia (response rate 89.2%). 83.8% of all students recalled an increase in their interest levels for rural medicine as a result of their RCS experience. Actual career intention to work in a regional area or rural area was 60.2%. Bivariate analyses showed female gender (p=0.003), rural background (p<0.001), an RCS preference for clinical training (p<0.001) and general practice intentions (p=0.004) were factors associated with higher levels of self-efficacy. Logistic regression analyses showed that self-efficacy was independently associated with increased interest in rural medicine (OR 1.4 (95% CI 1.3 to 1.5)) and rural career intent (OR 1.2 (95% CI 1.1 to 1.3)). (Model included gender, rural background, preference for RCS, generalist intent, rural practice interest and self-efficacy).

CONCLUSIONS

Self-efficacy is associated with increased interest levels for rural medicine and rural medical career intent.

Mood and food at the University of Turku in Finland: nutritional correlates of perceived stress are most pronounced among overweight students

OBJECTIVES

We examined perceived stress and food intake at University of Turku, Finland.

METHODS

This study was conducted as an online survey (1189 students). We computed two composite food intake pattern scores (sweets, cakes and snacks; fruits and vegetables), a dietary guideline adherence index, and the subjective importance of healthy eating. We assessed the correlations between perceived stress, and two food intake pattern scores, dietary guideline adherence index and subjective importance of healthy eating. We tested the associations between stress and the same variables, controlling for potential confounders for the whole sample, by gender, and by Body Mass Index (BMI).

RESULTS

Fruits and vegetables intake and dietary guideline adherence were both negatively associated with stress. These negative associations were more pronounced in overweight and less pronounced in underweight compared to healthy weight students. Sweets, cookies and snacks consumption were not associated with stress. Stress was associated with lower subjective importance of healthy eating, independent of gender and BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Perceived stress might have relationships of different magnitudes in overweight vs. normal BMI or underweight persons. BMI could be an effect modifier of the stress-food habits association.