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Psychosocial Factors Influencing the Perception and Choice of Nursing as a Profession: A Study at Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College

Received: 10 January 2014     Published: 20 February 2014
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Abstract

This paper explored the psychosocial factors influencing the perception and choice of nursing as a profession by student nurses. Three hundred and sixty student nurses (N=360) were systematically sampled from Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana. A self-designed questionnaire on the students’ perception of the nursing profession and the factors that influenced their choice of nursing as a career was administered to students in their first, second and third year of study in the programme. The results were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi square Test of Independence. The findings of the study revealed that the students had a favourable perception of nursing as a profession. The psychosocial factors that influenced their choice of nursing included, the opportunity that the profession will offer for them to travel abroad and influence from parents. It was recommended that the government should formulate policies to upgrade remunerations for professional nurses in the country to minimize the exodus of nurses since the study indicated that students had high levels of intention to travel abroad after graduation.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15
Page(s) 25-32
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Psychosocial Factors, Choice of Nursing, Nursing as a Profession, Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College

References
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[2] Adam, A., Bond, S. (2000). Hospital nurses job satisfaction, individual and organization characteristics. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(5):536-543.
[3] Beck, C.T. (2002). Experiences of choosing Nursing as a career. Journal of Nursing Education, 39(7):320-322.
[4] Benner, P.E., Tannor, C.A., Chesla, C.A. (2009). Expertise in nursing practice: Caring, clinical judgment and ethics. Second edition, Springer Publishing Company, New York.
[5] Bullough, V.L. & Bullough, B. (1993). Medieval Nursing. Journal of Nursing History Review, 21(5):676-699.
[6] Corley, M.C. & Mauksch, H.O. (1993). The nurse’s multiple commitments. Journal of Professional Nursing, 9:116-122.
[7] Dolan, J.A., Fitzpatrick, M.L. & Herrmann, E.K. (2005). Nursing in society: A historical perspective. Philadelphia: Saunders.
[8] Fry, S.T. & Johnstone, M. (2008). Ethics in nursing practice: A guide to ethical decision making. (3rd ed.). ICN, Stanford, England.
[9] Ghana Health Service. (2010). Annual report. Accra: Ghana Health Service, Government Printer.
[10] Gibbs, H. (2002). Count Your Blessings. Journal of Nursing Times, 98(26):29.
[11] Hawkins, R. (2001). Nursing Students career choice: A pilot study. Tenesse Nurse, 64(3):14-18.
[12] Kenny, C. (2002). Lack of training places revealed. Journal of Nursing Times, 98(43):1-5.
[13] Kersten. J. Bakewell, K. & Meyer, D. (2003). Motivating factors in a Student’s choice of nursing as a career. Journal of Nursing Education, 30 (1): 30-3
[14] Larsen, P.D., Mcgill, J. S. & Palmer, S. J. (2003). Factors influencing career decisions: perspectives of Nursing Students in three types of programmes. Journal of Nursing Education, 42(4):168-173.
[15] Law, W. & Arthur, D. (2003). Factors influencing Hong Kong School Students in their choice of a career in Nursing. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 40(1):23-32.
[16] Milton, C.L. (2008). Accountability in nursing: Reflecting on ethical codes and professional standards of nursing practice from a Global perspective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 21:300-303.
[17] Ministry Of Health (2009). Human Resources Division. Annual report: Accra, Ghana.
[18] Oates, A. (2006). Nursing as a career choice, Department of health and human services, freedom of information Act. Journal of Nursing Education 20(9):1-34.
[19] Polit, D. F. & Beck, C. T. (2008). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott William & Wilkins.
[20] Stevens, K.A. & Walker, E.A. (2003). Choosing a Career, Why not nursing for more High School Seniors. Journal of Nursing Education, 32(1):13-17.
[21] Wade, B. Degerhammer, M. (1995). The Development of a measure of job satisfaction for use in evaluating change in the system of care delivery. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Science, 5(4):195-201.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Prudence Portia Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, Samuel Atindanbila, Gladstone F. Agbakpe, Edward Abasimi. (2014). Psychosocial Factors Influencing the Perception and Choice of Nursing as a Profession: A Study at Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3(1), 25-32. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15

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    ACS Style

    Prudence Portia Mwini-Nyaledzigbor; Samuel Atindanbila; Gladstone F. Agbakpe; Edward Abasimi. Psychosocial Factors Influencing the Perception and Choice of Nursing as a Profession: A Study at Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2014, 3(1), 25-32. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15

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    AMA Style

    Prudence Portia Mwini-Nyaledzigbor, Samuel Atindanbila, Gladstone F. Agbakpe, Edward Abasimi. Psychosocial Factors Influencing the Perception and Choice of Nursing as a Profession: A Study at Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College. Psychol Behav Sci. 2014;3(1):25-32. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15,
      author = {Prudence Portia Mwini-Nyaledzigbor and Samuel Atindanbila and Gladstone F. Agbakpe and Edward Abasimi},
      title = {Psychosocial Factors Influencing the Perception and Choice of Nursing as a Profession: A Study at Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {25-32},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20140301.15},
      abstract = {This paper explored the psychosocial factors influencing the perception and choice of nursing as a profession by student nurses. Three hundred and sixty student nurses (N=360) were systematically sampled from Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana. A self-designed questionnaire on the students’ perception of the nursing profession and the factors that influenced their choice of nursing as a career was administered to students in their first, second and third year of study in the programme. The results were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi square Test of Independence. The findings of the study revealed that the students had a favourable perception of nursing as a profession. The psychosocial factors that influenced their choice of nursing included, the opportunity that the profession will offer for them to travel abroad and influence from parents. It was recommended that the government should formulate policies to upgrade remunerations for professional nurses in the country to minimize the exodus of nurses since the study indicated that students had high levels of intention to travel abroad after graduation.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AU  - Prudence Portia Mwini-Nyaledzigbor
    AU  - Samuel Atindanbila
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.15
    AB  - This paper explored the psychosocial factors influencing the perception and choice of nursing as a profession by student nurses. Three hundred and sixty student nurses (N=360) were systematically sampled from Korle - Bu Nurses’ Training College in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana. A self-designed questionnaire on the students’ perception of the nursing profession and the factors that influenced their choice of nursing as a career was administered to students in their first, second and third year of study in the programme. The results were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi square Test of Independence. The findings of the study revealed that the students had a favourable perception of nursing as a profession. The psychosocial factors that influenced their choice of nursing included, the opportunity that the profession will offer for them to travel abroad and influence from parents. It was recommended that the government should formulate policies to upgrade remunerations for professional nurses in the country to minimize the exodus of nurses since the study indicated that students had high levels of intention to travel abroad after graduation.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon

  • Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Legon

  • Department of Psychology, Methodist University College Ghana, Dansoman

  • School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale

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