Predictors of intention to study nursing among school students speaking a language other than English at home

There is currently a shortage of bilingual nurses in New South Wales. It is important to include bilingual nurses in the workforce to meet not only the cultural and social needs of people speaking a language other than English at home, but also to facilitate the achievement of appropriate health outcomes for a multicultural population. The purpose of this study was to identify demographic and social factors which explain students' intention to study nursing. Respondents were 789 year 11 or 12 students speaking Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish or Vietnamese from twenty-five schools in South Eastern, South Western and Western Sydney. Data were collected through a self-completed questionnaire. Chi square, t-test and logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis. Logistic regression analysis concluded that perceived parental income, years of settlement in Australia and father's occupation were significant factors. Bivariate analysis also revealed that significant differences were found in the intention to study nursing between male and female students and between students with a higher and lower Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER). Parental influence also affects students' intention. However, gender and TER were found to be insignificant after adjustment for other variables in the logistic regression model.