Caroline Zulu
University of Zambia, Zambia
Title: Perception of the Image of Nursing Profession by Nursing Students at School of Nursing Sciences, University of Zambia
Biography
Biography: Caroline Zulu
Abstract
The image of both nurses and nursing as a profession are vital in the successful recruitment and retention of staff in the healthcare industry (Abdel EL-Halem, 2013). This exploratory descriptive study was conducted to establish the perception of the image of the nursing profession by nursing students at the University of Zambia. A total of 76 conveniently sampled students participated in the study. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that comprised of three main parts to determine if students had either a positive or negative image of nursing profession, what could have influenced students’ perception and students’ social ranking of the nursing profession. Data was analysed using SPSS version 20.
In Zambia, the shortage of Nursing is critical, for instance, the nurse patient ratio is 1 to 40 patients (Huffstutler, S., Y., et al. 1998). The findings showed that most (70%) of the students had a positive perception of the Nursing profession and 30% had negative perceptions of the image of nursing.