The Identification of the Perceptions of Final-Year Midwifery Students on The Profession of Midwifery

Abstract

Background: Thoughts and perceptions of midwifery students, who are the midwives of the future, about the profession of midwifery are quite important. Objective: This study aims to identify the perceptions of final-year midwifery students on the profession of midwifery. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2021 to January 2022 The population was final-year undergraduate midwifery students enrolled in 11 public universities selected by lot in Turkey, whilst the sample comprised final-year midwifery students selected from this population (n=330). The data were collected online using a Personal Information Form and the Midwifery Vocational Perception Scale. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Kruskal-Wallis H test were used. Results: The participants had a mean age of 22.06±2.02 years. Of all participants, 93.3% stated that they viewed the profession of midwifery positively. Moreover, the mean Midwifery Vocational Perception Scale score of the participants was 75.58±5.14, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was calculated as .89. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean Midwifery Vocational Perception Scale scores of the participants based on their age, marital status, family type, economic status, employment status, maternal education level and employment status, paternal education level and employment status (p>.05), Midwifery Vocational Perception Scale scores of those who viewed the profession positively (76.03±4.58) were statistically higher than those who thought negatively (69.18±7.85) (p