Hi everyone!
All right, understanding why students choose nursing as a career is more important than ever—especially as we face a global nursing shortage. It’s not just about attracting new nurses but also about inspiring, motivating, and retaining them in the profession.
But the factors influencing career decisions have evolved over time. Many existing studies may no longer reflect the current trends shaping nursing careers today. To address this, we conducted a scoping review using four major databases: CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect; focusing on full-text English articles published between 2014 and 2024.
Our review followed a framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley while incorporating updates from the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. Ultimately, 49 studies were included in the analysis.
Our thematic analysis revealed key factors influencing nursing career decisions: personal desire, social influence, career opportunities, job flexibility, nursing education programs, and the impact of the pandemic. These factors align with the Career Sailboat Model highlighting how personal motivations, social dynamics, systemic factors, and even unexpected events shape students’ choices, which you can see from the figure from our findings.
Several important trends emerged:
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Geographically distributed and flexible nursing programs are essential for attracting and retaining students. These programs offer greater access especially for those in rural or underserved areas.
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Diverse role models also play a significant role in inspiring underrepresented groups to consider nursing as a career. Representation matters in shaping career aspirations.
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Family support is another key factor. Early engagement with families helps foster cultural acceptance of nursing as a career choice, particularly in communities where nursing may not traditionally be seen as a viable option.
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Mentorship, scholarships, and curricula tailored to student needs are crucial in guiding nursing students through their decision‑making process.
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Finally, job security and stability continue to be major considerations for students when choosing nursing—the promise of a stable, rewarding career remains a strong draw.
By addressing these factors, we will not only attract more students to the profession but will also help retain them in the long run.
Thank you.
This e-poster has been presented at ICN Congress 2025 at Helsinki, Finland. I also published this on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/LfLBhYFTtyU?feature=shared
The full paper has been published at Nurse Education Today: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2025.106739
Note: “The image is protected by copyright and cannot be reproduced, distributed, or used without the explicit permission of the copyright holder (Joko Gunawan).”
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