[Shaping individual educational and career paths in nursing - perspectives in practice]

Shaping individual educational and career paths in nursing - perspectives in practice Abstract: Background: Continuing vocational training not only serves to expand professional competences and thus to ensure professional action but is also an element of lifelong learning as a means of shaping one's own employment biography. Aim: Educational and career paths in the field of nursing are characterised by heterogeneity and a variety of options. This raises the question of how nurses organise their individual educational pathways. Methods: Narrative interviews were conducted with nursing professionals, which were analysed using the documentary method as a hermeneutic procedure. By reconstructing practices, it was possible to find central frameworks for organising the educational pathways, which were transferred into a typology. Results: The three types (1) goal-oriented design of the educational pathway, (2) flexible design of the educational pathway and (3) market-oriented design of the educational pathway show that a self-determined design of educational and career paths can be promoted but also restricted by organisational practices. Conclusions: Further training is not just an individual career decision. Healthcare organisations can also be seen as shapers of individual educational and career paths. Facing the shortage of skilled nursing staff, it is important to consider the limits of self-determined organisation, which can have an influence on continuing on working as nurses.