Defining nursing entrepreneurship from the point of view of future professionals: A qualitative study

Entrepreneurship comprises the development of novel projects, products, and strategies, both from a business perspective and in the context of nursing care. Despite ongoing debate as to whether entrepreneurship should be considered a distinct academic discipline, this subject remains largely unexplored within the health sciences. There is a paucity of published work examining whether entrepreneurship constitutes a specific competence and what nurses and nursing students understand by entrepreneurship. This study aims to identify, on the basis of the beliefs of nursing students from different countries, what entrepreneurship in nursing is. Based on these responses, a definition of entrepreneurship in nursing that responds to society's current needs is proposed.

Qualitative descriptive methods were employed to gather insights from first- and second-year students across four nursing faculties: two located in Colombia, one in Peru, and one in Spain. The students were tasked with defining entrepreneurship within the nursing context. This inquiry was posed at the outset of the educational sessions on entrepreneurship, ensuring that the students had no preexisting information. The responses were collected using the digital platform Mentimeter, which allowed the students to submit their answers via mobile devices. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

A total of 160 written responses were received, analyzed, and categorised by the research team. Finally, 24 codes were obtained, which were grouped into 5 main themes: Healthcare and patient support, Innovation in nursing, Continuous professional improvement, nurses' contributions to society, and own project development.

Drawing from the experiences and beliefs of nursing students, entrepreneurship is characterized as the ability to innovate, conduct research, and advance scientific knowledge, thereby achieving continuous improvement in care while engaging with environmental and societal contexts.