An investigation of nursing students' self-esteem levels and attitudes towards nursing profession

This study was planned as a descriptive and cross-sectional study to examine nursing students' self-esteem levels and attitudes toward the nursing profession. This study was conducted with Haliç University nursing students. The population of the study consisted of 390 nursing students, while the sample was planned to consist of 194 nursing students calculated by the known sampling method and the data collection process was completed with the participation of 202 students. The data were collected with the Personal Information Form, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and Attitude Toward Nursing Profession Scale. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 27.0 program. Frequency tables and descriptive statistics were used to interpret the findings. In accordance with nonparametric methods, "The Mann-Whitney U" test (Z-table value) was used to compare the measurement values of two independent groups, and "The Kruskal-Wallis H" test (χ2-table value) was used to compare the measurement values of three or more independent groups. Bonferroni correction was applied for pairwise comparisons of variables with significant differences for three or more groups. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between two quantitative variables that did not have a normal distribution. It was determined that the mean age of the participants was 20.79±1.72 (years), 65.3% (n=132) were between the ages of 20-22, 76.7% (n=155) were female, 29.7% (n=60) were in the first grade, 34.2% (n=69) had a democratic – problem-solving attitude in their families, and 65.3% (n=132) were graduates of regular high school-Anatolian high school. There was a significant positive correlation between Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and Attitude Toward Nursing Profession Scale scores (r=0.231; p<0.001). As ATNPS - Total increased, general self-esteem, social self-esteem, home-family self-esteem, and CSI - Total scores increased. The results of this study revealed that nursing students' self-esteem is greatly affected by professionalization and socialization processes. Due to the length of time, students spend under the supervision of academic institutions and academic staff, more attention should be paid to this issue. During curriculum development, factors that facilitate the development of higher levels of self-esteem among nursing students need to be considered. The concept of self-esteem is influenced by different cultural influences and contexts. It is recommended that similar studies be conducted in other universities.