Evaluation of Family Influence On Career Choice of Nursing Students

Abstract

The research was carried out in a descriptive design in order to evaluate the influence of their families on the career choice of student nurses and the factors affecting them. The population of the research consisted of 1218 nursing students studying at Atatürk University Faculty of Nursing in the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. The sample consisted of 452 nursing students who met the research criteria and were selected from the probability sampling method by simple random sampling method. The research data were collected with the "Introductory Information Form" and the "Family Influence Scale on Career Choice". It was found that %52 % of the students who participated in the study were between the ages of 20-33, 32.2% are first-year students, 77.4% are girls, 28.3% live in a big city, 40.7% have 1-3 siblings, mothers of 46.5% are primary school graduates, fathers of 35.6% are primary school graduates, 88.1% mothers are unemployed, 65.3% fathers are working, 83.8% have a medium family income, 61.9% chose the nursing department willingly, and 78.1% had a career plan for the future. It was found that among the nursing students, those whose mothers and fathers are university graduates, whose fathers are retired, and who do not have a career plan, have a higher influence on their career choices (p<0.05). It was found that the influence of the families of the students in their career choices was high (75.80±10.83). Students scored Information Support with an average of 29.51±6.62, Financial Support with an average of 22.30±4.51, Family Expectations with an average of 10.78±4.09, and Values and Beliefs with an average of 9.93±3.15, which is one of the sub-dimensions of the scale of family influence on career choice. The results of the research show that as the education level of the mothers and fathers of nursing students increases, they have more effects on their career choices. It is seen that especially retired fathers have more influence on their children's careers. In addition, students who have not made any career plans in the future have a great influence on the career orientation of their families.