Les représentations de l’infirmière chez les étudiantes nouvellement inscrites au baccalauréat en sciences infirmières
Some researchers claim that the main reason why a person would choose to become a nurse is attributable to vocational aspects and not to the desire to exercise a profession that requires knowledge and skills inherent to the complexity of care (Prater & McEwen, 2006; Price, McGillis Hall, Angus & Peter, 2013). One of the main reasons for students attrition in nursing educational programs would be the dissonance between the initial representation they have of a nurse and the profession requirements (CNA, 2004). An exploratory study was conducted among newly enrolled students in a Nursing Bachelor’s degree (N=11), to better understand their representations of nurses and their expectations towards the profession. Moscovici’s Theory of Social Representations (1961) is the framework that supports this study. The qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews suggests that Quebec students have a representation of nurses as people who help patients as much as doctors. New students expect to work hard through their studies as well as in their future job in health care settings. Nonetheless, they are ready to commit to nursing, because of a desire to help others and because they recognize themselves in the qualities they consider necessary for the practice of nursing such as relational skills, which include listening, empathy and patience. Therefore, these results suggest that the historical context in which nursing has evolved in Quebec, in addition to medias that do not seem to refresh the image they project of nursing, could have an influence on these new students representations of nurses. The results of this study could help define future research perspectives to a better understanding of the involvement of representations of nurses for students attrition, while also having implications for nursing practice, nursing policies and nursing training.
perceptions students nursing social representations expectations