Views on education and upcoming profession among newly admitted students at a Swedish baccalaureate nursing program : A descriptive mixed method study

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate newly admitted nursing students' views on nursing education and their future profession. BACKGROUND: Students' choice of education can be influenced by societal and familial values and among nursing students' altruistic motives are common. Students', conceptions, expectations and doubts combined with their orientations to learning affect their ability to successfully cope with studies in higher education. DESIGN: A descriptive design using mixed method. METHODS: This mixed-method study is based on 126 qualitative semi-structured interviews and 158 questionnaires with newly admitted nursing students. The data collection was conducted during their first six weeks of education. Collected data were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. This study was conducted and reported in accordance with the COREQ checklist. RESULTS: The overarching theme: "Making a difference if managing to become a professional nurse", describing students' dichotomous emotions of expectations and doubts in relation to their conceptions, emerged from seven main categories. Students' ratings of emotions revealed high ambition and motivation. Fears and worries about uncertainty expressed in interviews correlated with ratings of negative emotions. CONCLUSION: Newly admitted nursing students think highly of the nursing profession and upcoming education. Students put faith in their own ability which is accompanied by doubts derived from uncertainty about forthcoming demands in academic, clinical and personal settings. Understanding of students' conceptions, expectations, doubts and their orientations to learning could be helpful in guiding them to acquire the nurse competencies necessary to become professional nurses that are able to handle complex situations