Factors Influencing Career Preparation Behavior of Mature Age Student Nurses

Abstract

Purpose: This study was done to determine the correlations among grit, social support, career barriers, and career preparation behavior in mature age nursing students, and identify factors influencing their career preparation behavior.Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study included 106 undergraduate nursing students aged 25 years or older at the time of entering three universities in Korea. Grit, social support, career barriers, and career preparation behavior were investigated using structured questionnaires. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis and were performed with the SAS program (version 9.4).Results: The factors influencing career preparation behavior of mature age nursing students included: persistence of efforts (β=.35, p<.001) and consistency of interests (β=-.21, p=.011) under the sub-domains of grit; informational support (β=.29, p<.001) under the sub-domains of social support; lack of job information (β=-.36, p<.001) and anxiety about the future(β=.28, p=.008) under the sub-domains of career barriers. These variables accounted for approximately 42% of the variance in career preparation behavior.Conclusion: The findings imply that in order to improve the career preparation behavior and lower the career barriers of mature age nursing students, their individual cognitive and psychological characteristics should be considered while providing diverse job information as part of career guidance.