The perceptions of high school careers advisers regarding nursing: an Australian study

Effective promotion of nursing as a career to high school students can potentially have a positive impact on the shortage of nurses. This study identified the perceptions of high school careers advisers of the Bachelor of Nursing program as a career choice, their perceptions of the attributes and characteristics necessary for nurses, and their perceptions of nurses' roles and responsibilities. These perceptions have not been previously identified in Australia and may not have been adequately considered in the planning of recruitment and retention strategies for nursing. The study findings suggest that careers advisers recognise the complexity of nursing practice in providing direct patient care and the range of attributes required for the registered nurse who provides this care. Careers advisers recognised that nursing had changed over the past ten years, although few perceived the roles and responsibilities of nurses to extend beyond activities related to patient care. There were few requests for information about nursing as a career from careers advisers and the findings indicates that they do not actively promote nursing as a career. This suggests that despite a range of initiatives to promote registered nursing as a career choice, careers advisers are not influencing significant numbers of school students to consider registered nursing as career.