A Training Institution-Based Assessment of Choices and Perceptions of the Nursing Profession and Analysis of Career Progression Perspectives Among Final Year Nursing and Midwifery Students
Abstract:
The nursing profession is crucial in
healthcare, emphasizing patient-centered care to improve health at both
individual and community levels. Nurses work collaboratively with physicians
but also provide independent care to enhance patient outcomes. In Ghana, over
128 accredited institutions train nurses; however, enrollment often exceeds
capacity, prompting calls for selective recruitment, infrastructure expansion,
and greater use of preceptors. This multi-site, cross-sectional study explores
why final-year students chose nursing, their views on the profession, and
perspectives on career progression. Findings indicate that most students,
primarily single, learned about nursing through family and friends. Many chose
nursing early, often influenced by their parents and a lasting interest in the
field. Students generally view nursing as a respected profession and believe
job opportunities are accessible both locally and abroad, though it is not
considered highly paid domestically. Some received career counseling before
training, which affirmed their choice. Most plan to migrate within five years,
favoring the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Many students consider a genuine
interest in nursing essential for success, express satisfaction with the
profession, and would recommend it to others. Further research is needed to
understand students' motivations and career plans more fully.
References:
[1]. Wherry, F. F., Ed. 2015. The SAGE
encyclopedia of economics and society. SAGE Publications. https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-encyclopedia-of-economics-and-society.
[2]. Maymoun, N., & Sohail, M. S. 2020. Who
wants to be a nurse? Understanding Emirati female students' knowledge and
attitudes about nursing as a career. Nursing Education Perspectives, 41(3),
E14–E19. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000659.
[3]. Fort, A. L., Deussom, R., Burlew, R.,
Gilroy, K., & Nelson, D. 2017. The Human Resources for Health Effort Index:
A tool to assess and inform strategic health workforce investments. Human
Resources for Health, 15(1), 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-017-0223-2.
[4]. Coulehan,
J. L., & Block, M. R. 2005. The medical interview: Mastering skills for
clinical practice (5th ed.). F. A. Davis.
[5]. Dunphy,
L. M., & Winland-Brown, J. E. 2011. Primary care: The Art and Science of
Advanced Practice Nursing. F. A. Davis.
[6].
International Council of Nurses. 2010,
April 29. The International Council of Nurses is a federation of more than 130
national nurses’ associations, representing 28 million nurses worldwide. https://www.icn.ch/.
Retrieved November 2022.
[7]. Scott,
H. 2002. RCN's definition of nursing: What makes nursing unique? British
Journal of Nursing, 11(21), 1356. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2002.11.21.10922.
[8]. American
Nurses Association. n.d. American Nurses Association. Retrieved November 2022,
from http://www.nursingworld.org.
[9]. Henderson's
Nursing Need Theory. (n.d.). In Nursing Theory. https://nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/henderson-need-theory.php,
[Retrieved November, 2022]
[10]. World
Health Organization. (2020). State of the world's nursing 2020: Investing
in education, jobs and leadership. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240003279,
[Retrieved, November 2022].
[11]. Bell,
S. A., Rominski, S., Bam, V., Donkor, E., & Lori, J. 2013. Analysis of
nursing education in Ghana: Priorities for scaling-up the nursing workforce. Nursing
& Health Sciences, 15(2), 244–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12026.
[12]. Ghana Ministry of Health. 2007. Number of
nurses and nurse population ratio by region, 2006/7. https://www.moh.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Facts-and-Figures-2012.pdf.
Retrieved November 2022.
[13]. List of accredited nursing training
colleges in Ghana. (n.d.). PC Bosson Online. https://pcbossonline.com/nursing-training-colleges-ghana/, [Retrieved November 2022]
[14]. Ministry of Health. (n.d.). Press
release: Ministry of health recruits 4,799 nurses. https://www.moh.gov.gh/press-release-ministry-of-health-recruits-4799-nurses/, [Retrieved November 2022]
[15]. Halperin, O., & Mashiach-Eizenberg, M.
2014. Becoming a nurse: A study of career choice and professional adaptation
among Israeli Jewish and Arab nursing students: A quantitative research study. Nurse
Education Today, 34(10), 1330–1334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2013.10.001.
[16]. Arrigoni, C., Micheletti, P., Grugnetti, A.
M., et al. 2014. The students' reasons to choose a nursing degree program: An
Italian exploratory study. Annali di Igiene, 26(6), 570–577. https://doi.org/10.7416/ai.2014.2016.
[17]. Jere, M., & Rudman, A. 2012. Why choose
a career in nursing? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1615–1623. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.05991.x.
[18]. Price, S. L., McGillis Hall, L., Angus, J.
E., & Peter, E. 2013. Choosing nursing as a career: A narrative analysis of
Millennial nurses' career choice of virtue. Nursing Inquiry, 20(4),
305–316. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12027.
[19]. Wilkes, L., Cowin, L., & Johnson, M.
2015. The reasons students choose to undertake a nursing degree. Collegian,
22(3), 259–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2014.01.003.
[20]. Usher, K., West, C., Macmanus, M., et al.
2013. Motivations to nurse: An exploration of what motivates students in
Pacific Island countries to enter nursing. International Journal of Nursing
Practice, 19(5), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12095.
[21]. Mooney, M., Glacken, M., & O'Brien, F.
2008. Choosing nursing as a career: A qualitative study. Nurse Education
Today, 28(3), 385–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2007.07.006.
[22]. Koech, J., Bitok, J., Rutto, D., Koech, S.,
Onyango, O., Korir, B., & Ngala, H. 2023. Factors influencing career
choices among undergraduate students in public universities in Kenya: A case
study of University of Eldoret. International Journal of Contemporary
Applied Sciences, 10(1), 25–40.
[23]. Singh, O. K. 2015. Academic and
psychological consequences of imposed career choices (Master’s thesis,
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India).
[24]. Malik, F., & Marwaha, R. 2022.
Cognitive development. In StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island, FL:
StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537095/.
[25]. Noreen, G., & Khalid, H. 2012, June.
Gender empowerment through women's higher education: Opportunities and
possibilities. Journal of Research & Reflections in Education (JRRE),
6(1), 63–76.
[26]. Ghana Districts. 2024. Overview of
healthcare facilities in Ghana. Ghanadistricts.com. http://www.ghanadistricts.com/healthcare-facilities, [Retrieved
December, 2022]
[27]. Abugri, A., & Jarvis, M. A. 2018.
Northern Ghana final-year nurses' attitudes towards nursing and remaining
post-qualification. Curationis, 41(1), e1–e7. https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v41i1.1832
[28]. Asamani,
J. A., Amertil, N. P., Ismaila, H., & others. 2019. Nurses and midwives
demographic shift in Ghana—the policy implications of a looming crisis. Human
Resources for Health, 17(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0377-1
[29]. Mao,
A., Cheong, P. L., Van, I. K., & Tam, H. L. 2021. "I am called girl,
but that doesn't matter": Perspectives of male nurses regarding
gender-related advantages and disadvantages in professional development. BMC
Nursing, 20(1), 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00539-w
[30]. Prosen,
M. 2022. Nursing students' perception of gender-defined roles in nursing: A
qualitative descriptive study. BMC Nursing, 21(1), 104. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00876-4
[31]. Rajapaksa,
S., & Rothstein, W. 2009. Factors that influence the decisions of men and
women nurses to leave nursing. Nursing Forum, 44(3), 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6198.2009.00143.x
[32]. Kuehnert,
P. 2019. To recruit more men, rebrand nursing as 'masculine'? Or just stop
oversimplifying the profession. American Journal of Nursing, 119(3),
61. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000554043.83744.8a
[33]. Yosep,
I., Amani, A. A., Komariah, M., Lindayani, L., & Suryani, S. 2022.
Religiosity and positive thinking in nursing students during the COVID-19
pandemic. In The International Virtual Conference on Nursing. Retrieved from:
[file:///C:/Users/MDHS%20OFFICE%20PC/Downloads/10357-Article%20Text-49060-1-10-20220207%20(1).pdf].
[34]. Cañadas-De
la Fuente, G. A., Ortega, E., Ramírez-Baena, L., De la Fuente-Solana, E. I.,
Vargas, C., & Gómez-Urquiza, J. L. 2018. Gender, marital status, and
children as risk factors for burnout in nurses: A meta-analytic study. International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), 2102. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102102
[35]. Blackmore, A. 2024, February 21. Women’s
history month: Why is nursing female dominated? Shiftmed Blog. https://www.shiftmed.com/professionals/blog/9-nurses-who-changed-patient-care/.
[36]. Davidson, P., Ferguson, C., & Farley,
J. 2022, August 12. Getting more men into nursing means a rethink of gender
roles, pay and recognition. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/getting-more-men-into-nursing-means-a-rethink-of-gender-roles-pay-and-recognition-185059
[37]. Mbonimana, G., & Byishimo, B. 2020.
Parental influence on students’ career choice and its effect on their academic
performance: A case of schools in Rulindo District. Journal Educational
Verkenning, 2(1), 013-019. https://hdpublication.com/index.php/jev.
[38]. Chen, X. 2021. The impact of child-parent
relationship on young adults’ career choice [Master’s thesis, Harvard
University Division of Continuing Education]. Harvard University. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37370040.
[39]. Nursing Students. 2014, May 13. Was nursing
your first choice entering college? Pre-Nursing. https://allnurses.com/was-nursing-first-choice-entering-t526889/.
[40]. Lai, H. L., Lin, Y. P., Chang, H. K., Chen,
C. J., Peng, T. C., & Chang, F. M. 2008. Is nursing profession my first
choice? A follow-up survey in pre-registration student nurses. Nurse
Education Today, 28(6), 768-776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2008.01.001
[41]. Alkaya, S. A., Yaman, Ş., & Simones, J.
2018. Professional values and career choice of nursing students. Nursing
Ethics, 25(2), 243-252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017707007.
[42]. Cilar, L., Spevan, M., Čuček Trifkovič, K.,
& Štiglic, G. 2020. What motivates students to enter nursing? Findings from
a cross-sectional study. Nurse Educ Today, 90, 104463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104463.
[43]. Duffield, C., O’Brien-Pallas, L., &
Aisbett, C. 2004. Nursing workload and staffing: Impact on patients and
staff. University of Technology Sydney.
[44]. Stievano, A., De Marinis, M. G., Russo, M.
T., Rocco, G., & Alvaro, R. 2012. Professional dignity in nursing in
clinical and community workplaces. Nursing Ethics, 19(3), 341-356. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733011414966
[45]. Nelson, J. A., & Folbre, N. 2006. Why a
well-paid nurse is a better nurse? Nursing Economics, 24(3), 127-130.
PMID: 16786826.
[46]. Wilson, B. L., Butler, M. J., Butler, R.
J., & Johnson, W. G. 2018. Nursing gender pay differentials in the new
millennium. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 50(1), 102-108. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12356
[47]. Marsland, L. 1996. Career guidance for
student nurses: An unmet need. Nurse Education Today, 16(1), 10-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0260-6917(96)80087-6
[48]. Smith, M. M. 1982. Career development in
nursing: An individual and professional responsibility. Nursing Outlook, 30(2),
128-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0029-6554(82)90027-3
[49]. Dovlo, D. 2007. Migration of nurses from
sub-Saharan Africa: A review of issues and challenges. Health Services
Research, 42(3 Pt 2), 1373-1388. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2007.00712.x
[50]. Smith, J. B., Herinek, D., Woodward-Kron,
R., & Ewers, M. 2022. Nurse migration in Australia, Germany, and the UK: A
rapid evidence assessment of empirical research involving migrant nurses. Policy,
Politics, & Nursing Practice, 23(3), 175-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544221102964