Attidutes of Hong Kong high school students towards the nursing profession

The increased development of hospital services in Hong Kong over the last d ecade has given rise in the demand for more recruits to join the nursing pr ofession. Despite the advancement in education and the improvement in the w orking conditions, the problems of attracting sufficient new recruits remai n critical. This study aimed to examine high school students' attitudes tow ards the nursing profession and to identify the contributing factors affect ing shortage of nurses within the context of Hong Kong. A convenience sample of 375 high school students was recruited. A questionn aire was used to measure their knowledge, attitudes and intention to study nursing. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe their career preferences and to compare knowledge, attitudes and intention scale s between gender and nursing exposure groups. Results indicated that the st udents were generally knowledgeable about nursing but were reluctant to pur sue nursing as a career. However, students who were socially acquainted wit h a nurse demonstrated a slightly more positive attitude towards nursing an d slightly higher intention to pursue nursing as a career compared with tho se having no social acquaintance with a nurse. Implications for promotion o f nursing profession and limitations of the study were discussed. (C) 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.