What factors influence Hong Kong school students in their choice of a career in nursing?

Document Type

Article

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Chronic and recurrent shortages of nurses, coupled with the increasing demand for high quality and motivated nurses and competition for secondary school leavers from other professions, are issues which prompted this investigation of senior school students’ career choice.
Using a descriptive survey design, and a questionnaire developed for the study, 1246 Form 6 students in Hong Kong were surveyed, of these 28% respondents reported that they were interested in studying nursing. The findings indicated that students’ decision to choose or not choose nursing was significantly influenced by the demographic factors: gender (χ2=42.72, pχ2=18.94, pχ2=34.33, pχ2=21.08, p=0.012); and their perception of nursing as a career score (t=14.21, df=1237, pχ2=11.53, p=0.001), school career masters (χ2=5.52, p=0.019) and friends (χ2=4.83, p=0.028); past experience with career activities (χ2=84.479, pχ2=31.742, pppppResults of this study can be used by nurse leaders and recruiters to develop strategies and help school leavers perceive nursing in a more positive way. Expanding the informational sources about nursing can facilitate the recruitment process.

Comments

This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.

Publication (Name of Journal)

International Journal of Nursing Studies

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS