Career education needs of Korean nursing students and professionals: A cross-sectional survey.

Abstract Background The career education needs of nursing students and professionals can be met by analyzing the differences between the importance and need levels of their various career education needs, determining priorities, and developing a career education program reflecting these. This approach will enable learner-centered customized career education. Objectives To investigate the differences in career education needs between nursing students and professionals, determine their respective priorities, and assess changes in needs between the two survey periods. Design Descriptive survey study. Participants The first survey (2017) included 206 nursing students and 40 nursing professionals, while the second survey (2020) included 219 nursing students and 100 nursing professionals. Methods Data for the two surveys were collected through face-to-face, postal, and online questionnaire surveys. The research tool to measure career education needs was developed based on an existing tool, top queries on a website for nursing students' career education, literature review, expert opinions, and in-depth interviews with nursing students. Results The 10 top-ranked items in Jo and Lee's model reflecting the career education needs of nursing students and professionals were as follows: workplace and social etiquette, changes in the healthcare environment and global issues, setting up my career roadmap, interpersonal and communication skills, nursing professionalism and nursing ethics, understanding the latest healthcare policies, my personality type and values, roles and duties of clinical nurses, my aptitude and interest, and nurses' healthcare. Comparing the career education needs of nursing students and professionals between the two survey periods revealed higher scores in the education category of “understanding career” in the second survey. Conclusion Nursing students' career awareness and development will be positively affected by a customized career education program based on the priority items derived from this study; such a program will help them attain nursing professionalism and enhance their occupational identity and job satisfaction.