Background: There is a broad international literature examining the perceptions, experiences and values of nursing students with very little investigative work from the Gulf region and no published work on the perceptions of student nurses from Bahrain. The literature shows that students have a wide range of pre-existing perceptions about nursing and that those early perceptions have a profound influence on their decision to continue with their nursing studies. Historically, in a context of migration, Bahrain has been attractive to expatriate nurses and this has created an overreliance on external manpower which leads to the detriment of developing an indigenous nursing profession. This study aims to identify the perceptions and experiences of student nurses in Bahrain about nursing as a career choice and generate an understanding of the factors influencing recruitment to nursing from the Bahraini population.

Methods: A triangulation research design engaging quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used in the study. Data were obtained through student nurses’ written reflections, self-reporting questionnaires and focus groups collected during their nursing programme. The study participants were the first ever cohort of 38 Bahraini nursing students attending the first private University in Bahrain where the study took place. Qualitative data was analyzed using Colaizzi’s methodology and quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS Version 17.

Results: The participants perceived nursing as caring, helping people and a humanitarian job. Nursing was considered to be a tough job and not well accepted socially with cultural issues impacting on the values attached to nursing as a career choice. Participants prior to entering nursing used the internet as the most potent source of information and they were also motivated by their parents and friends to join nursing. Participants stated their commitment to a nursing career, and their plans to continue with participation in higher education.

Nursing manpower in the Middle East is highly dependent on expatriates and this presents a challenge in establishing and sustaining indigenous nursing developments. Understanding the perceptions of local nursing students and nurses joining the profession is essential to successful strategies for recruitment and retention of nurses. In contrast to the west, very little is known about this topic in the Middle East. This article aims to identify the perceptions of a Bahraini cohort of nursing students about nursing as a career choice and how these perceptions may change during the course of a programme of nursing education and one year after graduation as a nurse. A longitudinal research design was employed to study the perceptions of the first intake of nursing students enrolled into a new School of Nursing & Midwifery providing a BSc Nursing Programme; data were collected between 2006 and 2012. A methodological triangulation research approach was used incorporating quantitative and qualitative dimensions. The data collection methods included written reflections, self-administered questionnaires and focus groups. Bahraini nursing students expressed positive perceptions about nursing from their graduate programme years and through the staff nurse year. Observations made about the public image of nursing in Bahrain suggest that nursing is perceived as a low paying, low status job involving excessive hard and unpleasant work. The public perceptions of Bahraini people about nursing may be grounded in strong cultural influences. Any efforts to improve the enrollment and retention of Bahraini nurses should consider enhancing the social values of the nursing profession.

The study findings reflect certain issues similar to the core international literature on nursing recruitment, however there are fundamental issues particular to the Arab region, which must be included in the development of a nursing recruitment strategy for Arabic nursing.

No abstract

No abstract