An impossible dream? Images of nursing held by pre‐registration students and their effect on sustaining motivation to become nurses

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Abstract
An impossible dream? Images of nursing held by pre‐registration students and their effect on sustaining motivation to become nurses Each year approximately 13 000 people enter higher education programmes leading to nurse registration in England. Evidence suggests that students enter nursing with strong images about how they will practice. This paper explores the nature of such images and how they are used to inform students’ approaches to nursing practice. Findings come from a longitudinal study designed to investigate how students develop their professional knowledge whilst working in clinical settings. Eight pre‐registration degree‐course nursing students participated in the study. A multi‐method approach to data collection was used over their 4‐year programme. One involved in‐depth interviews taking place during each of students’ clinical placements. Data were analysed manually and subjected to a constant comparative method of analysis. From this material individual case studies of the five completing students were constructed, with participants checking their own case study to ensure that it reflected their intended meaning. A second phase followed where cross‐case comparison addressed each of the original research questions. The question relevant to this paper was: What were students’ conceptions of nursing on entry, and how do these influence their development? Findings indicate that participating students’ preconceptions of nursing had a profound influence on their decision whether to continue with their course, sometimes despite social and academic set‐backs, or to leave nursing. An important contribution to realizing their aims was their supernumerary status and effective support from knowledgeable and experienced practitioners. These findings indicate that with better understanding of the relationship between this form of personal knowing and practice, educators would have more information with which to select students and to design professional curricula.