title: Nursing as career choice: perceptions of Turkish nursing students.
abstract: Students' perceptions of nursing influence their choice of nursing as a career and whether they remain in the profession. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of entry-level male and female nursing students and the reasons for choosing nursing as a career. A qualitative approach was used by focus group interviews with 31 nursing students, and socio-demographic data were collected by questionnaire. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data, and findings were grouped into categories and themes. The first category was 'choosing', which included the themes of 'desire to help', 'satisfactory income, and guaranteed employment', 'influence of family and friends' and 'being in a health-related profession'. The second category was 'others' reactions, which included the single theme 'response'. The third category was 'the image of nursing' which included the themes of 'job description' and 'gender'. The study concluded that although a growing amount of male students are enrolling in nursing programs, stereotypical ideas persist, and nursing is considered a female-dominated profession. There is further need to track student experiences during or after clinical practice and explore whether students' perceptions change over time.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Nursing , Pamukkale University Denizli School of Health , 20160, Kinikli, Denizli , Turkey.
authors.forename: Hatice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Başkale
authors.affiliation: b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing , Pamukkale University Denizli School of Health , 20160, Kinikli, Denizli , Turkey.
authors.forename: Pınar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Serçekuş
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009729:Nursing; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D014421:Turkey
keywords: choosing nursing; male nurses; nurse gender; nursing in Turkey