Changes in students' orientations to nursing during nursing education.

The purpose of this study was to describe the changes that took place in students' orientations to nursing during nursing education. The theoretical background of the research lay in the model of nursing students' orientation to nursing, which defines students' orientations in terms of caring, nursing expertise and life orientation. The orientations differ from each other as regards the student's pre-educational caring and nursing experiences, the meaning of caring and nursing and the expectations for a career in nursing. The research was conducted qualitatively, but quantitative measures were also used. The interviews of 19 voluntary nursing students concerning their orientation to nursing both at the beginning and at the end of education were analyzed by content analysis. The categories were derived deductively from the model of nursing students' orientation to nursing. The categories were quantified, and paired t-test and Wilcoxon test were performed to test the significance of the changes in students' orientations between the beginning and the end of education.