title: Nursing students' perceptions of nursing: a descriptive study of four cohorts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to describe nursing students' changing perception of nursing over 4 years of the nursing programme and examine whether perception differed by gender, previous study or choice of nursing education.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cross-sectional design was used, with a probability sample of 606 students. Respondents were a random sample of 50% of each of the four educational cohorts studying within the academic year 2008-2009 in one baccalaureate nursing programme at a Jordanian public university. A specifically designed tool of statements of nursing definitions based on nursing theories, the nursing literature and sociocultural beliefs was used to identify student nurses' perception of nursing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Student perceptions changed from lay altruistic beliefs of nursing to theoretical medical technological views of the profession denoting a theory-practice gap. Perceptions also differed by gender, having a previous associate degree in nursing and a priority choice to study nursing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Such results delineated the importance of revising nursing schools' curricula and the universities' admission policies into the nursing profession.
authors.affiliation: Maternity and Child Health Department, Faculty of Nursing, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. r.safadi@ju.edu.jo
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Safadi
authors.forename: M Y N
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: O S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Nassar
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Amre
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Froelicher
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D009729:Nursing; D010465:Perception; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires