| dc.description.abstract | Background: Students’ orientations and attitudes toward nursing influence the decision to enter the nursing profession, but also influence attrition rates due to unmet expectations experienced during education. To counteract the expected nursing shortages, it is important to explore students’ orientation and attitudes in favor of recruitment and retention before and during education. The orientation and attitudes of vocational trained nursing (MBO-V) students are unknown, however this is the largest group of nursing students in the Netherlands. Research question: What are the orientations and attitudes of MBO-V students toward their future profession before and after five months of nursing education? Secondary, which demographic characteristics are related and influence positive orientations and attitudes? Method: A descriptive pretest-posttest survey was conducted among first-year MBO-V students at nine regional training centers in the Netherlands. Students completed a questionnaire before and after five months of education consisting of: nursing orientation tool, nursing attitude questionnaire, and demographic characteristics such as gender, age, living status, first-choice programme, and career choice. The Wilcoxon paired-rank test was conducted to determine changes over time. The Mann-Whitney U-test was performed to compare group scores. Regression analysis was used to determine which demographic characteristics influence students’ orientation and attitudes. Results: At the beginning of nursing education, MBO-V students (N=454) agreed most with statements related to caring, nursing expertise, advocacy, empathy, and developing/applying knowledge. After five months, students were more life-oriented, while caring, nursing expertise, advocacy, and empathy decreased. Selecting nursing as a first-choice program and aiming for a nursing career influenced students’ orientation and attitudes toward nursing. Conclusion/Recommendations: Beginning MBO-V students hold positive views toward nursing, which alter during the first five months of nursing education. Being aware of students’ orientations and attitudes toward nursing can help nurse educators in recruitment and retention strategies. | |
