Professional Readiness Perceptions and Causes of Professional Concerns of Senior Nursing Students: A Descriptive and Cross-Sectional Study in Turkey

Background: Nursing students’ lack of preparedness for the profession and their professional concerns cause difficulties in transitioning to the profession. Aim: To determine the professional readiness perceptions and causes of professional concerns of senior nursing students. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 70 senior nursing students. Data were collected with the “Personal Information Form”, “Identifying Causes of Professional Concerns Form” and “Nursing Professional Readiness Perception Scale”. Descriptive statistics, Independent Samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used. Results: Students’ mean total scores on the scale were 4.04 ± 0.48. Their subdimension mean score was 4.09 ± 0.58, 4.04 ± 0.65, and 4.00 ± 0.55 for “Professional Adaptation”, “Professional Competence”, and “Communication and Cooperation”, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the total mean scores and the status of liking the profession, thinking of working as a nurse, and feeling ready for the profession (p<0.05). The students were most concerned about “Being exposed to violence”. Conclusion: The students' perceptions of professional readiness were above the scale average, and they experienced various professional concerns.