Professional Image Perceptions in First-year Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Determining the professional image perceptions of the first-year nursing students who have recently chosen the nursing profession is of great importance in delineating the profession profile. The present study aimed to determine the image perception of first-year nursing students and its related factors.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional research was conducted in the Fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. In total, 105 first-year nursing students were selected from the Nursing Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Bursa Uludağ University in Turkey. The study subjects were recruited randomly. A Student Identification Form and the Image Scale for the Nursing Profession were used as data collection tools. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied for analyzing the obtained data in SPSS. Results:The Mean±SD score of the Image Scale for the Nursing Profession was achieved as 149.06±11.19. Students who had willingly selected the nursing profession gained higher scores than those of other students in professional qualifications, education, professional status, and appearance scale sub-dimensions and total scale mean scores (P<0.05). In addition, the mean scores of the female students in the sub-dimensions of education, gender, and total scale were significantly higher than those of their male counterparts (P<0.05). Conclusion:The nursing students indicated a good image perception of the nursing profession. Conducting a similar study is recommended for senior nursing students and staff nurses.

A four‐year longitudinal evaluation study of nursing image, self‐esteem, and profession perception among nursing students

“…Many factors-such as school curriculum, educators, clinical practice environment, mentor nurses, and peers-contribute to the professional development of nursing students (Safadi et al, 2011). To develop a more positive professional image among students, it is recommended that academic and clinical nurses serve as role models and guides (Yılmaz, 2019).…”

“…Therefore, a strong and positive professional image among nursing students is important for their professional development and commitment (Dost & Bahçecik, 2015). Nursing image has always been considered an important concept in nursing (Kartal & Kantek, 2018) and there are studies in the literature that define the nursing image and influencing factors of students (Elibol & Harmancı Seren, 2017; Kim & Kwon, 2018; Yılmaz, 2019). In the studies, the students' perceptions of nursing image showed low (Elibol & Harmancı Seren, 2017) or above average in other words positive (Kim & Kwon, 2018; Yılmaz, 2019).…”

“…Nursing image has always been considered an important concept in nursing (Kartal & Kantek, 2018) and there are studies in the literature that define the nursing image and influencing factors of students (Elibol & Harmancı Seren, 2017; Kim & Kwon, 2018; Yılmaz, 2019). In the studies, the students' perceptions of nursing image showed low (Elibol & Harmancı Seren, 2017) or above average in other words positive (Kim & Kwon, 2018; Yılmaz, 2019). Notably, a positive image of nursing is critical to ensuring professional development (Hung et al, 2019).…”

Sociocultural and perceived public image of nurses among nursing students: the mediating role of self-concept

“…Numerous studies claim that the public image of nurses is perceived negatively [ 16 , 17 ]. In contrast, a favorable perception of nurses was observed [ 18 ]; however, few studies have highlighted the positive perception of nurses’ public image, status, and power as a profession during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 19 – 21 ].…”

Nursing students’concerns towards nursing, in the south-west of Iran during 2022–2023: A cross-sectional study

“…Therefore, the image of nursing has always been of great importance and concern. Corresponding to the literature, nursing students' perceptions of the image of nursing are affected by the perspective of society towards the profession [5].…”