title: From placement to employment: Career preferences of Jordanian nursing students.
abstract: This study examined employment planning and career preferences of final year nursing students in Jordan. Focus group discussions (n = 4) were conducted by the first author with a convenience sample of 27 nursing students. N-Vivo 9 was used to analyze the qualitative data. The analysis revealed two themes. The first theme focused on "moving from study to work", and comprised two sub-themes: being uncertain and hesitant and being a real nurse. The second theme was "the place where I want to be", and referred to participants' preferences concerning their future career. Participants showed interest in critical care units but they were not optimistic about their future career prospects due to the possibility of being jobless and the perceived low public image of nurses. In addition to the nature of placement atmosphere, gender, family and cultural issues were found to shape participants' preferences. It is therefore important to periodically review the considerations of employment planning and career preferences of nursing students, otherwise devising interventions for sound recruitment of nurses in the future will be flawed.
authors.affiliation: Dean of Nursing Faculty, Mutah University, 61710, Karak, Jordan. Electronic address: noorshoq@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Noordeen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shoqirat
authors.affiliation: Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia; Associate Professor, Department of Adult Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mutah University, Mutah, Jordan.
authors.forename: Ma'en Zaid
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Abu-Qamar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D010560:Personnel Selection; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Employment planning; Focus group discussions; Jordan; Nursing placement; Nursing recruitment