Predictors of attitudes towards nursing profession and peer caring behaviors of the nursing students: A cross-sectional study

Background: Professionalization in nursing is interconnected with the acceptance and encouragement of professional role model manners and caring approaches among the nursing students. Objective: To determine the predictors of attitudes towards nursing profession and peer caring behaviors of the nursing students. Design: A single-centered, observational, cross-sectional study. Settings: A university's faculty of health sciences nursing department in Ankara, Turkey. Participants: The population of the study comprised of second and fourth year nursing students (N = 470). The study was completed with 390 students. Methods: The data were collected via a questionnaire, the Attitude Scale for Nursing Profession (ASNP), and the Peer Caring Measurement (PCM) between September and October 2018. Univariate and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to predict the data (p < 0.05). Results: The mean age of the students was 20.41 (SD = 1.34) and 85.1 % of them were female. The total ASNP mean score was found 160.10 (SD = 15.59). The mean score of the ASNP were higher in females, those whose income was equal or more than expense, those who preferred nursing school willingly, studying nursing pleasantly, those who were eager to work as a nurse, and those who planned to advance in nursing career. The total PCM mean score was 42.10 (SD = 10.45). It was higher in second year students, those whose income was equal or more than expense, and those who planned to advance in nursing career. There was a positively moderate correlation between the ASNP and the PCM total scores (r = 0.314, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Attitudes of the nursing students towards profession and their peer caring behaviors were highly positive. Improving the attitudes of the nursing students towards the profession via enhancing their peer caring behaviors, novel approaches, such as internship and mentorship, should be implemented into the nursing education.