Perceptions of the nursing job by young people of secondary school as a choice of future profession — preliminary study

Introduction. The choice of study as well as future career is very important issue for every young people. The choice of the future profession
should be deliberate choice of taking into account abilities and interests. Nursing profession is specific in many ways. Making a decision
about being a nurse require constant readiness to help others and this is a value itself.

Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to: examine perceptions of nursing as a career by young people of secondary school; diagnose
what kind of factors influence their subsequent career decision either to choose or to reject nursing.

Material and methods. The research group included 383 randomly selected participants from secondary school. Data was collected on
the authorship questionnaire. The study was carried out from December 2010 to March 2011.

Results and conclusions. The research showed that nursing profession, by majority of young people, was associated with: caring/helping
people, high level of commitment and diligence. The study indicated that there is a substantial shortage in nursing profession and great need for
education in this field. The main motives to choose nursing profession was: interesting and attractive work in the future. The results presented in
our study correlated with other existing reports. The research showed that there is a decline in interests among young people to consider
nursing as a future profession. This situation is directly related to: the specific work environment, low pay and too much responsibility.