Bachelor of Nursing students career choices: a three-year longitudinal study

This paper presents the findings of a survey which explored the career preferences of Australian Bachelor of Nursing students for certain clinical specialities. A convenience sample was recruited, with data collected three times between 2005 and 2007. With first-year students, acute care nursing of the adult and child and midwifery were the most popular career choices, whereas considerably less were interested in mental health or aged care nursing, and nearly two-fifths were undecided. By third-year, there was a shift in career preferences, with acute care of the adult and mental health being the most popular choices. In contrast, midwifery and aged care were the least preferred careers. The study provides some evidence students commence their course with a predominantly lay-informed image of nursing, but this may be tempered by favourable curricular influences towards the mental health field. However, the curriculum discourages students from pursuing a career in aged care and midwifery.