Table 2.
Inductively inferred categories
| Category | Code | Brief description | Characteristic phrase (code number) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Be useful | USE | The desire to feel useful | “The wish to be useful to others.” (264) |
| “I like to be useful and to help people.” (70) | |||
| “The desire to be helpful to others.” (106) | |||
| Curiosity | CUR | The desire of knowledge | “I chose this degree course because I have always been fascinated by the world of health care.” (36) |
| “I chose a degree course that would guarantee me a more immediate professional future …in addition to this motivation, another factor comes into play, even more important, namely the desire for knowledge.” (105) | |||
| Family tradition | FAM | Family tradition: one or more components of the family is a healthcare professional, a nurse, a doctor, etc. | “I chose the nursing degree course for various reasons. First of all, because I have relatives in the medical field who have passed on the desire to help suffering people.” (157) |
| “I have relatives that are nurses and doctors; they introduced me to this world.” (149) | |||
| “I grew up in an environment full of doctors.” (286) | |||
| “…my motives are also family based, in fact my father is a nurse and I would be happy to follow in his footsteps.” (110) | |||
| Gratification | GRA | To consider nursing profession a rewarding profession. | “I consider nursing a rewarding field, in fact a series of actions to improve the patient’s condition of health are carried out! I consider nursing a rewarding profession!” (9) |
| “I think I would feel gratified at the end of the day knowing that I helped.” (122) | |||
| “It (this work) is something that gratifies me, that makes me feel good, that satisfies me.” (202) | |||
| “I think that helping people who are ill and who are in difficulty is one of the most satisfying things that gratifies them.” (18) | |||
| Helping others | HEL | The desire to help others. | “I think that helping sick people is absolutely one of the most rewarding things, which gratifies you.” (18) |
| “I want to take care of others.” (168) | |||
| “The idea of being able to help people really appeals to me.” (266) | |||
| Human contact | HUM | Seeking human contact. | “I really love being in close contact with people.” (188) |
| “I like to have personal contact with people.” (182) | |||
| “I love to interact with people.” (258) | |||
| Mission | MIS | To consider nursing profession as a mission. | “Ensuring that people who suffer are able to find not only a good nurse, but also an angel of consolation. We have to get to know them and to serve them with love.” (131) |
| “Helping people suffering is a mission to be pursued.” (36) | |||
| “I’ve always wanted to make a contribution to society, helping others because a nurse’s job is really a mission.” (150) | |||
| Personal experience | EXP | Personal experience, such as job experience (e.g. volunteering), hospitalization, a relative with an illness, etc. | “The motivation that has driven me to this decision was the death of my grandparents (death due to illness), and the death of a special good friend, who died long ago, at a much too early age.” (36) |
| “I had a painful personal experience, therefore I realized that my pathway was to help people.” (64) | |||
| “The choice was reinforced also by many personal ‘negative’ experiences in hospitals during the last few years of my life.” (44) | |||
| “This desire began after an event that occurred in my family.” (43) | |||
| Personality | MIR | Skills, abilities or personal characteristics that students think they possess. | “In addition to the skill acquired by study and practice, it need a strong sense of humanity, with patience, kindness and firmness. I think I have these personal characteristics.” (65) |
| “I am a person who can listen and help …I think anyone who wants to undertake this type of profession should have this kind of personality.” (35) | |||
| “Helping others has always been in my nature.” (187) | |||
| Practical | PRA | Oriented to manual and practical applications | “Helping those in need …not from behind a desk, but doing something concretely, with a hands-on approach.” (191) |
| “I like the curriculum which includes not only theoretical topics but also practical aspects.” (184) | |||
| “In this degree course, we will be immediately brought into contact with the concrete work, we will put into practice what we study.” (221) | |||
| “It allows me to do something concrete to help others.” (251) | |||
| Recommendation | REC | Recommendations of family members and friends. | “…thanks to different orientation services of the university and also after talking with friends, I realized that my future would be right in this course of study.” (158) |
| “My girlfriend is in the third year (of nursing degree course) and she inspired me a lot.” (182) | |||
| “Friends also influenced me to make this choice.” (230) | |||
| Role of the nurse | ROL | Attraction of the image of the nursing role. | “I have always been attracted by the figure of the nurse as a person that is in direct contact with people and therefore has a very crucial role of responsibility.” (1) |
| “I have chosen a nursing degree course because I think the nurse is one of the most noble and important jobs in the world of work.” (94) | |||
| Second choice | SCH | The choice of a nursing degree course isn’t the first option (for example, students weren’t able to pass admission tests in other preferred degree courses). | “I am a first year student at this university course, after I obtained a university degree in philosophy. Clearly, this is not a choice motivated by passion, because philosophy was my first choice, but motivated by the desire to find a future career.” (230) |
| “…because last year, I wasn’t admitted to a physiotherapy degree course.” (163) | |||
| “I wasn’t admitted to a medical degree course, then I choose this degree program.” (222) | |||
| “Nursing is my second choice. In fact, I will would like to attend the course of medicine.” (258) | |||
| “Nursing was my eighth choice.” (75) | |||
| Secure Job | JOB | Job opportunities. | “I made the decision to choose a course of study that would guarantee me a job opportunity.” (105) |
| “I was driven by the possibilities of employment at European level.” (182) | |||
| “This degree course offers many opportunities of employment.” (198) | |||
| “The first (motivation) concerns job opportunities, in fact, the percentage of graduates who find a job after the first year is very high.” (188) | |||
| Smile | SMI | People’s smiles are rewarding. | “Helping others and seeing them happy would be gratifying for me, because I would have contributed to their lives.” (44) |
| “…give a smile to people who need it.” (198) | |||
| “I love the smiles of people.” (288) | |||
| “Being useful to others, to give them a smile to relieve their suffering,…, is something that would make me completely satisfied.” (161) | |||
| Topics | TOP | Interest in science subjects. | “The main reason why I enrolled in this degree course is because I have a preference for scientific topics, such as biology and chemistry.” (109) |
| “I have a great passion for healthcare and science subjects such as biology, anatomy, etc.” (49) | |||
| “Interest in topics concerning the health sector.” (87) | |||
| Vocation | VOC | The intention or desire to be a nurse is present from many years. | “From my early childhood, I felt that the role of this profession was right for me.” (139) |
| “I always wanted to be a nurse.” (152) | |||
| Well targeted | TAR | The choice is motivated by a specific career goal. | “When I think about my future, I see myself in the operating room assisting a surgeon.” (165) |
| “After I graduate, I will be able to specialize in obstetrics.”(126) | |||
| “I enrolled in this course because my ambition is to become a scrub nurse in the operating room.” (2) |