title: Student impressions of clinical nursing.
abstract: Informal verbal reports of attitudes of nursing degree students over two years suggested a growing trend of lack of motivation in pursuing a career in nursing upon qualification. In an attempt to discover the reasons for this a small qualitative study was undertaken. Fourteen undergraduate nursing students from years 3 and 4 from a BSc Nursing Sciences (Hons) program were sampled using a volunteer sampling method. The degree program is one of two pre-registration programs, the other being the Diploma course. Audio-taping was used to record the responses of students in two focus groups convened for the purpose of this study. Three main themes: ward culture; mentors; and learning from the negative reflect the students' accounts of the influence of their clinical experiences on their motivation for a nursing career. Students indicated that their interest in nursing as a career was directly affected by their observations of trained nurses and the nurses' attitudes toward them as students.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Social Work and Applied Health Studies, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX UK. p.a.pearcey@hull.ac.uk
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Pearcey
authors.forename: Barbara E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Elliott
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008611:Mentors; D008875:Middle Aged; D009729:Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D015279:Organizational Culture; D013338:Students, Nursing; D006113:United Kingdom