Student nurses' career motivation toward gerontological nursing: A longitudinal study

Developmental trajectories of professional preparedness among senior nursing students during clinical placement: A longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Newly graduated nurses' lack of professional competence is associated with inadequate preparation during their clinical placement as nursing students. Clinical placement is a critical stage in the development of nursing students' professional preparedness. However, research on the trajectory of nursing students' professional preparedness during clinical placement has not yielded findings with the same specificity.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to estimate differences in professional preparedness levels at different clinical placement stages, to identify distinct patterns of professional preparedness trajectories during clinical placement, and to evaluate predictors of these trajectory group memberships.

DESIGN

A quantitative longitudinal study.

SETTINGS

Participants were recruited on a voluntary basis using convenience sampling at a tertiary hospital in Nanning, China.

PARTICIPANTS

224 senior nursing students were initially invited to participate in the study. A total of 178 nursing students successfully completed the follow-up assessments at baseline, as well as at 1 month, 4 months, and 8 months into their clinical placement.

METHODS

Participants completed four online surveys, during which their professional preparedness level was measured using the Perceived Professional Preparedness questionnaire for senior nursing students. Professional preparedness scores at different time points were compared using one-way repeated measures ANOVA and latent growth model. Group-based trajectory model was applied to identify professional preparedness trajectories. Multiple logistic regression was adopted to determine the predictors of trajectory group memberships.

RESULTS

The entire sample of Senior nursing students experienced a significant increase in professional preparedness during clinical placement. The best-fitting group-based trajectory model delineated three distinct trajectories: low-slowly increase trajectory (27.53 % of sample), moderate-rapidly increase trajectory (47.19 % of sample) and a high-stably increase trajectory (25.28 % of sample). Male, good and excellent academic performance, and very high degree of professional interest are the predictors of the moderate-rapidly increase trajectory. While male, good and excellent academic performance, high and very high degree of professional interest and participating in medical-related part-time employment are the predictors of the high-stable increase trajectory.

CONCLUSIONS

Senior nursing students exhibit different levels of professional preparedness throughout their clinical placement. Simultaneously, three different trajectories were identified among the sample of nursing students. Therefore, in future research, greater attention should be directed towards the professional preparedness levels of nursing students with different trajectories, and early identification and targeted interventions should be prioritized.

Trajectories and predictors of gerontological service career adaptability among health science undergraduates: A longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

In response to the aging population, it is essential to examine gerontological service career adaptability among health science undergraduates.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to clarify the trajectories and predictors of health science undergraduates' gerontological service career adaptability.

DESIGN

This study adopted a longitudinal design.

SETTINGS

This study was conducted at four universities in China.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Health science undergraduates were recruited via convenience sampling. Data were collected in the third (Stage 1), sixth (Stage 2), and ninth (Stage 3) months of the participants' graduation year. A total of 471 undergraduates completed a three-stage self-report questionnaire that assessed gerontological service career adaptability, career motivation, proactive personality, and practice environment at Stage 1 and gerontological service career adaptability at Stages 2 and 3. The response rate was 76.84 %. Data analyses entailed multiple linear regression, a latent growth mixture model, and multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS

Three subgroups representing different gerontological service career adaptability trajectories were identified: rapidly growing (6.16 %), stably growing (87.47 %), and decreasing (6.37 %). Changes were observed primarily from the third to sixth months of the participants' graduation year. Health science undergraduates with high career motivation and a strongly proactive personality were likely to be in the decreasing group, whereas those with a supportive practice environment were predisposed to belong to the decreasing and stably growing groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The health science undergraduates' gerontological service career adaptability trajectories are heterogeneous, with the critical period spanning the third to sixth months of their graduation year. Gerontological service career adaptability grows stably among most undergraduates who have a supportive practice environment. Additionally, gerontological service career adaptability changes easily among undergraduates with high career motivation and a strongly proactive personality. Educators should implement tailored interventions to enhance gerontological service career adaptability based on health science undergraduates' traits.

Career choice motivation and professionalism in medical students in China: a gender-stratified analysis

OBJECTIVE

To examine the associations between career choice motivation and professionalism among medical students based on gender in the context of COVID-19.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The study was conducted at a medical school in China.

METHODS

A total of 1421 second-year to fourth-year medical students participated in the survey using cluster sampling. They were asked to complete questionnaires on demographic information, career choice motivation and professionalism. Linear regression models were used to analyse the relationship between career choice motivations and professionalism based on gender differences.

RESULTS

Female medical students outperformed males in professionalism (p<0.001). Third-year medical students have the lowest level of professionalism irrespective of gender. In addition, females have more intrinsic career choice motivation than males. Students motivated by personal interest had the highest level of professionalism, while those who go with the flow had the lowest. According to the linear regression analysis, the motivation advice from parents was the factor of professionalism in male medical students (p<0.05). However, the motivation go with the flow negatively influenced the professionalism of female medical students (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

The level of professionalism differed between genders based on different career choice motivations. Career choice motivation can be used as an entry point for professionalism education among medical students. Targeted interventions should be implemented to improve professionalism, especially for male medical students and unmotivated students.

What motivates students to pursue a career in gerontological nursing? The cultural adaptation and validation of the Spanish version of the CMGN questionnaire

Background

Career motivation toward gerontological nursing (CMGN) has been studied by various authors. It is essential to identify the influencing factors and guarantee that undergraduate nursing degrees provide adequate social and healthcare responses to the current demand for gerontological care. Objective: In the absence of a validated instrument to measure students' career motivation in geriatric nursing in our sociocultural context, this study aimed to adapt and validate the original questionnaire Chinese CMGN. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 316 nursing students were collected in May 2021. The cultural and linguistic adaptation process was conducted in accordance with the recommendations of Ramada-Rodilla and Beaton. A committee of experts was established to assess content validity. The CMGN questionnaire consists of 20 items divided into 2 subscales: "Expectancy" (6 items) and "Values" (14 items). To determine the psychometric properties, the following analyses were carried out: content validity (Aiken's V coefficient and Pearson's coefficient of variation), internal consistency (Cronbach's α) and construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis and convergent and divergent validity). To verify the model once the parameters were estimated, we calculated the goodness-of-fit between the model and the data. Data analyses were performed using SPSS for Windows (IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS 27.0).

Results

A total of 316 nursing students were surveyed, of which 91.1% were women and the mean age was 21.61 ± 5.45 years (range: 18-56). The results indicate that the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were adequate in terms of content and construct validity. The internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha for both subscales was greater than 0.8. The AMOS results revealed that the final model fit statistics of CMIN/df (2.204), GFI (0.922), CFI (0.948) and RMSEA (0.062) indicated a satisfactory model fit. Finally, an original second-order model was obtained, resulting in the Spanish version of the CMGN (SV-CMGN) instrument. Conclusions: We developed a valid SV-CMGN questionnaire that is socially and culturally adapted to the Spanish context and is capable of measuring the motivation of nursing students toward a career in gerontological nursing, from the newest to the most experienced. This new version opens up the possibility of studying the phenomenon of motivation in other Spanish-speaking countries. Keywords: Gerontological nursing; Motivation; Students, nursing; Validation study; Surveys and questionnaires.

Experiences for Geriatric Care from Nursing Students' Knowledge: A Qualitative Approach

(1) Background: Studies have shown that clinical experience has an impact on how students perceive geriatric care. The vulnerability of older people particularly allows students to reflect on and evaluate their learning. In this context, communication between tutors and students is important to guiding a contextualized view of the complexity of clinical situations. The principal objective was to explore the feelings, perceptions, and experiences of nursing students in geriatric care units during their practices. (2) Methods: This is a qualitative study using content analysis where the data collected were analyzed deductively. An intentional sample of 81 nursing degree students enrolled in the subject of clinical practices. During these sessions, a dynamic discussion forum was incorporated. (3) Results: There were 6 forums with a total of 591 participants, with an average of 98.5 per forum. Four categories emerged: humanization, geriatric nurse, aging, and learning. (4) Conclusions: A change of management oriented to the person-centered model would improve the quality in the residences and as well as in the expectations of the students towards geriatric nursing. Changing perspectives could be a way to confront and become aware of the fallacies of care that have been evidenced. This study was not registered.

Nursing students' perceptions on community care and placement preference in Saudi Arabian universities: A multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

There is an increasing shortage of highly educated community nurses; only a small number of nursing students choose to work in the community.

OBJECTIVES

To understand the perception among nursing students in Saudi Arabia about working in the community and where they intend to pursue their careers.

DESIGN

A quantitative cross-sectional design.

SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of undergraduate students enrolled in their first to final years of a bachelor's degree program at three Saudi Arabian universities.

METHODS

Data were collected from September-December 2022 using the 'Scale on Community Care Perceptions', which included demographic questions and measures reflecting their impressions of a community care placement, a community care career, and their current placement preferences.

RESULTS

In total, 439 students completed the online questionnaire. Nursing students' community care feelings (affective component), expectations, and regards as a future profession were moderately positive with a mean of 6.68 (1-10 scale; negative-positive perceptions). Regarding placement preference, many students chose general hospitals (N = 212, 48.30 %); a small number chose community care (N = 77, 17.54 %). The positive choice of respondents was influenced by the various technical nursing skills required (N = 212, 10.6 %), enjoyable relationships with patients (N = 211, 10.5 %), and many opportunities for advancement (N = 169, 8.4 %). Furthermore, students' placement preferences were significantly predicted by their expectations of placement and future professions in community care (F = 95.24, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.30). A significant difference was also found among their preferences in terms of the level of education and the experience of family and friends working in the community (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Community care is an undervalued career choice among nursing students in Saudi Arabia. To bolster nursing students to prefer this career path, nursing schools, in coordination with local authorities, must formulate and implement a clearly defined career development plan that allows them to fully immerse themselves in community care activities.

Simulation-based holistic education in physiotherapy interns to increase empathy toward older adults and individuals with disabilities

Background

The proportion of older adults and individuals with disabilities in the general population increases each year. Thus, clinical clerkships designed for physiotherapy interns should provide more than simply knowledge and skills. For such interns to be able to handle the requirements of their future jobs, clerkships must enable them to develop empathy and positive attitudes toward patients. This study investigated the effect of simulation-based, holistic health-care education on physiotherapy interns’ empathy, attitudes, and knowledge. 

Methods

A parallel-group design. Thirty physiotherapy interns from a medical institution were enrolled as participants, with experimental and control groups each comprising 15 participants. Both groups received standard clinical training. However, the experimental group received an additional 3.5 h of simulation-based holistic health-care education. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, the Attitudes Towards the Elderly Scale, the Knowledge About Aging Scale, Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale, Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale, and Care Willingness Scale were used in a pretest and posttest.

Results

After the intervention period, we observed substantial between-group differences of 6.4 points on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (p = 0.001), 7.7 points on Kogan’s Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (p = 0.002), 3.5 points on the Attitudes Toward the Elderly Scale (p = 0.002), 2.5 points on Knowledge About Aging (p = 0.055), 4.5 points on the Knowledge of the Situation of Older People Scale (p < 0.001), and 2.1 points on Perceptions of Working with Older People Scale (p = 0.046).

Conclusion

Simulation-based, holistic health-care education can significantly improve the empathy, knowledge, and attitudes of physiotherapy interns.

Death Anxiety and Willingness to Work in Geriatric Care: The Role of Contact With Older Adults

The current study sought to examine the moderating role of contact with older adults in the relationship between medical and nursing students' death anxiety and their willingness to work in geriatric care. A total of 385 Chinese freshman and sophomore medical and nursing students were included in this cross-sectional study. Logistic regression results showed that death anxiety was negatively related to students' willingness to work in geriatric care. The negative association between death anxiety and willingness was moderated by contact with general older adults (i.e., students who had frequent contact with general older adults were more willing to work in geriatric care even with a high level of death anxiety). However, contact with grandparents did not have a significant moderation effect. Interventions to reduce the negative impact of death anxiety on students' willingness to work with older adults should consider increasing medical and nursing students' quality and frequency of contact with older adults. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 48(6), 49-56.].

Understanding nursing students' perceptions of the general practice environment and their priorities for employment settings

AIM

To explore final year nursing students' perceptions of the general practice environment and their priorities when choosing a workplace.

DESIGN

Online survey, reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines.

METHODS

The validated Profession Scale from the Scale on Community Care Perceptions (SCOPE) tool was used to identify characteristics within the general practice environment and the importance of these in choosing a workplace. To explore the factor structure, exploratory factor analysis was undertaken which was used to revise the survey language and flow before widespread dissemination.

RESULTS

Three hundred and fifty-five responses were received. Factor analysis revealed three factors: Provision of care, Employment conditions and Nature of work. Respondents exposed to general practice in the Bachelor of Nursing program or who had a general practice clinical placement had significantly different perceptions across all factors. Although wages, advancement opportunities, work pressures and the physical nature of work were perceived as important in choosing a workplace, they were seen as only moderately present in general practice.

Influence of "RAP" experiences on nursing students' career choices in aging: A qualitative exploration

BACKGROUND

Healthcare professions are ever challenged to meet the demands of a global aging society. Educators across the helping professions continuously explore ways to motivate students' interest in caring for older adults. Given new undergraduate nursing curriculum changes, increased demand for creative outpatient educational opportunities for clinical gerontological experiences has put tremendous urgency on all healthcare stakeholders.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze students' perceptions of clinical experiences at the Robust Aging Program clinic, a community wellness outpatient senior center.

DESIGN

Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews, exploring students' perspectives on whether they would consider gerontology/geriatrics-related careers.

SETTING

University extension senior clinic, serving Osher Lifelong Learning Center members who attend the Robust Aging Program, a School of Nursing community service.

METHOD

IRB-approved semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone and Zoom within a year of clinic experience. Preset questions centered on students' clinic experiences. Trained research assistants working under the guidance of a qualitative researcher collected and analyzed and categorized common and emergent themes.

PARTICIPANTS

13 undergraduate nursing students who volunteered in the clinic in current or previous semesters. Students were about to graduate or new alumni; working nurses came from different specialties, including pediatrics.

RESULTS

Clinical immersion in a nurse-led senior wellness clinic that entailed close interactions with robustly aging adults increased students' knowledge and skills and their willingness to work with the aged. Mentorship was noted as a key emergent theme.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to community outpatient clinical experiences can spark interest in working with older adults. This is especially true of advanced practice nurse-led wellness clinics where students receive mentorship and are empowered to exercise holistic care. Further research is needed to determine educators', clinicians', and administrators' roles in sustaining students' interest in gerontology-related careers.

Graduating nurse students' interest in older people nursing-A cross-sectional survey in six European countries

BACKGROUND

Countries vary in the number of qualified nurses employed in older adult services. Moreover, students' views of older people nursing as a career differ internationally. Studying future nurses and their career intentions for the field is warranted to meet the increased nurse workforce expectations in terms of quantity and competence.

AIM

To analyse graduating nurse students' interest in older people nursing and the factors associated with it.

METHODS

A cross-sectional multicountry survey design was applied. Data were collected between May 2018 and March 2019 from several educational institutions in Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to recruit graduating nurse students (n = 1796). The data were collected with a structured questionnaire comprising background factors and the Willingness sub-scale (six items) of the Students' Interest in Nursing Older People Scale. Data were analysed using a linear mixed model including relevant background variables.

RESULTS

Overall, students' interest in older people nursing was low (score 20.5, on a 0-100 scale). Among the studied countries, Spanish students scored the highest (38.8) and German students the lowest (3.6). Students' interest in older people nursing was associated with country (p < .001), the length of work experience (p = .006), plans for further study (p = .007), competence (p < .001) and the extent that nursing is valued by society (p < .001). The students who were most interested in older people nursing had higher self-reported competence level (p < .001).

CONCLUSION

In the studied sample of future nurse professionals, interest in older people nursing is low at a time when the field suffers from workforce shortage. As for quality workforce, it was promising that the students who considered working in the field also evaluated themselves as competent.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Multidimensional actions are required to promote interest in the field, including continued development of competence in both undergraduate education and workplaces, and investing in various career pathways to envisage potential opportunities.

The Moderating Role of Empathy Profiles in the Relationship Between Knowledge About Aging and Attitudes Toward Older Adults Among Nursing Students

Knowledge about aging (KA) and empathy affect nursing students' attitudes toward older adults. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon from an integrated, person-centered perspective. The purposes of the present study were (1) to identify empathy profiles based on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) among Chinese nursing students and (2) to explore whether these latent empathy profiles moderate the association between KA and attitudes toward older people. A cross-sectional survey design was used, and a battery of questionnaires - including those on demographic information, the Chinese version of Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz (C-FAQ), the Chinese version of Kogan's Attitude Toward Older People Scale (C-KAOP), and the IRI - was filled in by 622 Chinese nursing students (M age 21.76; SD = 1.33). The mean total scores on KAOP and C-FAQ were 164.96 ± 18.32 and 10.436 ± 3.015, respectively, indicating relatively positive attitudes toward older people but low KA among Chinese nursing students. Latent profile analysis was used to identify a three-profile solution characterized by distinct levels of four dimensions of empathy, namely average empathy (AE, n = 399), high empathy (HE, n = 42), and low empathy (LE, n = 181). Subsequent linear regression analysis revealed that the LE rather than the HE profile predicted positive attitudes toward older adults. It is worth noting that the LE profile played a remarkable moderating role in associations between KA and negative attitudes toward older adults after controlling for covariant variables. Both the identification of distinct empathy profiles and the interplay between the LE profile and KA are of significance in reducing negative attitudes toward older adults among Chinese nursing students. Nursing educators should combine improving nursing students' levels of KA and fostering greater empathy to reduce negative attitudes toward older adults. Such training should give priority to nursing students with LE.

Factors affecting preregistered nurses' willingness to serve in geriatric long-term care

AIM

Rapidly ageing population leads to increased demands for long-term care. Taiwan's preparation for its ageing population focuses on engaging healthcare professionals. This study explored pre-registered nurses' current knowledge, experience in geriatric long-term care (GLTC) and willingness to serve in GLTC.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey design and a self-developed structured questionnaire were used.

METHODS

A probability proportionate to size sampling strategy was used to collect data from students in junior college and bachelor of nursing science programmes in Taiwan in 2017. Multiple regression was adopted to predict significant factors that influence nursing students' willingness to serve in GLTC.

RESULTS

The willingness to serve in GLTC was positively correlated with their experience of living with older adults, practicum experience, taking GLTC-related courses and interest in GLTC. Willingness to serve older/disabled patients can be enhanced through school courses and practicum experiences, indicating the importance of GLTC-related courses in the training of the professional nursing workforce.

Willingness and associated factors of working with older people among undergraduate nursing students in China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The aging population has become a serious challenge for health care service and will lead to an increasing demand for nurses to work with older people. However, working with older people has always been an unpopular career choice among nursing students. This study aimed to further explore the willingness and associated factors of undergraduate nursing students to work with older people in China.

METHODS

A convenience sampling method was employed from May to July 2017 among undergraduate nursing students from a nursing school in Nantong China. Demographic data, the Chinese version of the Kogan's Old Person's Scale, the Chinese version of the Facts of Aging Quiz and the motivation questionnaire were used to collect data. A series of Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, Spearman correlation test and Ordinal logistic regression analysis were applied to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Of the 853 students surveyed, 38.1 % were willing to work with older people after graduation. Expectancy, interest, attainment value, cost, prejudice, whether they like nursing profession and whether they participated in elderly-related activities were the most significant predictors of the students' willingness to work with older people.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing students expressed a low level of willingness to work with older people upon graduation. Nursing educators have an important part in challenging students' stereotype of older people and inspire their career choice in caring for older people through both well-designed curriculum and elderly-related activities, and relevant education departments should actively optimize aged-related courses, strengthen professional ethics and gratitude education, and improve nursing students' sense of identity and mission in caring for older people, so as to improve their willingness to work with older people.

New graduate employment in general practice: Perceptions of final-year nursing students

AIM/OBJECTIVE

This paper sought to investigate the perceptions of final-year nursing students regarding general practice nursing as a new graduate career path.

BACKGROUND

General practice nurses have become increasingly important in providing community-based care, in response to the growing burden of chronic conditions and the ageing population. To sustain this workforce, there is a need to optimise strategies to promote a consistent supply of new graduate nurses.

DESIGN

This qualitative descriptive study was undertaken within a sequential explanatory mixed methods project.

METHODS

Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with sixteen final-year nursing students from five Australian universities. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four main themes were identified, namely; a) general practice is not a priority career path, b) opportunities for skills development and consolidation, c) perceptions of employment conditions, and d) transition support is limited.

CONCLUSION

To meet current workforce needs in areas with increasing demand, nurse educators need to support undergraduate nursing students to explore a wide range of career pathways following graduation. Informed career choices and well-structured educational preparation during undergraduate education may be an effective strategy in building a sustainable future workforce in settings such as general practice.

Assessing attitudes and intention to work with older adults by American and Israeli nursing students: Adapting and testing a measure

BACKGROUND

Finding workers to care for older adults in healthcare settings has become a priority, and research identifying factors influencing a nursing student's intention to make geriatrics a career choice is needed. This calls for the development of a reliable measure of students' perceptions and attitudes.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the adaptability of Carolina Opinions on Care of Older Adults (COCOA) to assess nursing students' attitudes to older adults and their intentions to work with them in two countries.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTINGS

Nursing students enrolled in an introduction to gerontological nursing course in the United States and Israel.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 231 undergraduates pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing in the United States (N=122) and Israel (N=109).

METHODS

Students completed the COCOA instrument and basic demographics using an electronic platform.

RESULTS

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) produced five factors explaining 59% of the variation, with the majority of the items (17, 71%) loading above 0.40 on subscales from the instrument's original structure. EFA led to the elimination of one subscale (Value of Older Adults) and the creation of a new subscale (Older versus Younger Adults) with three items. The reliability scores were good to acceptable for all subscales in both Israeli and American samples (α-Cronbach 0.80 to 0.60). Confirmatory FA supported the data's fit to the 21 items of the modified COCOA instrument (CMIN/DF=1.55, CFI=0.93, IFI=0.93, RMSEA=0.05). The analysis of model equivalence for American and Israeli samples revealed significant differences only on the Experience in Caring for Older Adults subscale.

CONCLUSIONS

The modified COCOA demonstrated good construct validity and reliability and can serve as estimation of nursing students' attitudes to older adults and their intention to make geriatrics a career choice. Future studies should further evaluate its predictive validity.

Final-year undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of general practice nursing: A qualitative study

AIM

To explore final-year nursing students' perceptions of general practice nursing.

BACKGROUND

The need for general practice nurses has increased due to growing demands for health care in the community. This demand is exacerbated by a shortage in the general practice nursing workforce. Understanding final-year nursing students' perceptions of general practice nursing is important as these may influence career choices.

DESIGN

Qualitative descriptive study within a mixed methods project.

METHODS

Telephone interviews were conducted with sixteen final-year nursing students. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Reporting follows the COREQ checklist.

RESULTS

Perceptions of general practice nursing varied between participants and related to three main themes; ways of working; a broad role to meet diverse health needs; and relationships with patients. General practice nurses were seen to have stable and collaborative working relationships, with their role ranging from supporting general practitioners to being autonomous professionals. The nurse's broad role was associated with diverse presentations and was considered interesting and challenging. Participants perceived that general practice nurses had more time to spend with patients, and this helped establish trust, and facilitated patient-centred care.

CONCLUSION

Participants' perceptions of general practice nursing varied, with some students recognising the diversity of the role and others perceiving it as limited. These views were often impacted by others experiences rather than personal experience. These variations underscore the need for students to receive greater exposure to general practice nursing. Review of undergraduate curricula to increase focus on preparing nursing students to work in general practice may help shape students' interest to seek employment in this setting.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Students perceptions of a clinical setting can influence their career decisions. Understanding these perceptions can inform clinicians and managers and highlight areas that may need to be addressed to promote career opportunities.

[The unpopularity of mental health/psychiatry care settings among nursing students: A systematic review]

In every population and country around the world, mental health needs are great and are on the rise. Through their training and their vast field of expertise, nurses are an important lever for addressing the issue of accessibility in these care settings. While the increase in the number of new nursing graduates should have helped this issue, recent data show a sharp increase in the shortage of nurses in these care settings. This systematic review (n=40) using the CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycArticles, and Scopus databases aims to explore why psychiatric and mental health care settings are unpopular with the next generation of nurses. Guided by Parse's theory, this review identifies three major themes : (1) nursing students' perspectives on mental health issues, (2) the influences of educational interventions on these perspectives, and (3) the factors facilitating and constraining a career in these care settings for new nursing graduates. These results enable a better understanding of what can affect the recruitment of new graduate nurses in mental health/psychiatry, while proposing various levers of intervention to specifically address this issue.