Liaw Sok Ying, Wu Ling Ting, Lopez Violeta, Chow Yeow Leng, Lim Siriwan, Holroyd Eleanor, Tan Khoon Kiat, Wang Wenru
Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 2, Clinical Research Centre, Block MD11 10 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117597, Singapore.
Auckland University of Technology, 90 Akoranga Drive, Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand.
BMC Med Educ. 2017 Apr 27;17(1):72. doi: 10.1186/s12909-017-0910-7.
With the availability of more healthcare courses and an increased intake of nursing students, education institutions are facing challenges to attract school leavers to enter nursing courses. The comparison of career choice influences and perception of nursing among healthcare students can provide information for recruitment strategies. An instrument to compare the influences of healthcare career choice is lacking. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument to compare the influences of healthcare career choice with perceptions of nursing as a career choice.
The study was conducted in two phases. In phase one, two sets of scales with parallel items that measure the influences of healthcare career choice and perceptions of nursing as a career choice were developed through an earlier qualitative study, literature review, and expert validation. Phase two involved testing the construct validity, concurrent validity and reliability with a convenience sample of 283 first year healthcare students who were recruited at two education institutions in Singapore.
An exploratory factor analysis revealed 35-parallel items in a six-factor solution (personal interest, prior healthcare exposure, self-efficacy, perceived nature of work, job prospects, and social influences) that explained 59 and 64% of the variance for healthcare career choice and nursing as a career choice respectively. A high correlation (r = 0.76, p < 0.001) was obtained with an existing tool, confirming the concurrent validity. The internal consistency was sufficient with Cronbach's alpha of 0.93 for healthcare career choice and 0.94 for nursing as a career choice. The test-retest reliability was acceptable with an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.63 for healthcare career choice and 0.60 for nursing as a career choice.
The instrument provides opportunities for understanding the differences between influences of healthcare career choice and perceptions of nursing as a career choice. This comparative understanding of career choice influences can guide educator and policy-makers on nursing recruitment.
随着更多医疗保健课程的开设以及护理专业学生招生人数的增加，教育机构在吸引高中毕业生进入护理课程方面面临挑战。比较医疗保健专业学生的职业选择影响因素和对护理专业的认知，可以为招生策略提供信息。目前缺乏一种用于比较医疗保健职业选择影响因素的工具。本研究的目的是开发并评估一种工具的心理测量特性，该工具用于比较医疗保健职业选择的影响因素与对护理作为一种职业选择的认知。
本研究分两个阶段进行。在第一阶段，通过早期的定性研究、文献综述和专家验证，开发了两组具有平行项目的量表，分别测量医疗保健职业选择的影响因素和对护理作为一种职业选择的认知。第二阶段涉及对283名一年级医疗保健专业学生进行便利抽样测试，这些学生是在新加坡的两所教育机构招募的，以检验该工具的结构效度、同时效度和信度。
探索性因素分析显示，在一个六因素模型（个人兴趣、先前的医疗保健接触、自我效能感、工作的感知性质、就业前景和社会影响）中有35个平行项目，分别解释了医疗保健职业选择和护理作为一种职业选择的59%和64%的方差。与现有工具的相关性较高（r = 0.76，p < 0.001），证实了同时效度。内部一致性良好，医疗保健职业选择的Cronbach's alpha系数为0.93，护理作为一种职业选择的Cronbach's alpha系数为0.94。重测信度可以接受，医疗保健职业选择的组内相关系数为0.63，护理作为一种职业选择的组内相关系数为0.60。
该工具为理解医疗保健职业选择的影响因素与对护理作为一种职业选择的认知之间的差异提供了机会。这种对职业选择影响因素的比较性理解可以为护理专业招生的教育工作者和政策制定者提供指导。
