Perception and plans about profession among budding nurses: a descriptive survey

Significant advances in nursing and recognition of profession as crucial in health upkeep, notwithstanding, many nurses after completing their studies do not hold their profession in high esteem. As a result, the quality of services rendered by them is not likely to be as good as their counterparts with high regard for their profession. This study, conducted on 530 undergraduate and diploma nursing students of 12 selected colleges and schools of Punjab. Semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. It was found that majority of students perceived their profession as respectful. However, more of diploma students did not hold such opinion. Further, less than half the students favoured bed side nursing as their career. It is concluded that quality of the nurses' environment should be improved for change in nurses' perception towards their profession and for better utilisation of their potential.