Abstract
BackgroundShortage and mal-distribution of nursing human resources is an intractable problem in China. There is an urgent need to explore the job preferences of undergraduate nursing students. The main aim of this study is to investigate the stated preferences of nursing students when choosing a job.MethodsA discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted to assess job preferences of the final year undergraduate nursing students from four medical universities/colleges in Shandong Province, China. Job attributes include location, monthly income, bianzhi (which refers to the established posts and can be loosely regarded as state administrative staffing), career development and training opportunity, work environment and working strength. Mixed logit models were used to analyze the DCE data.ResultsA total of 445 undergraduate nursing students were included in the main DCE analysis. They demonstrated higher preference for a job with higher monthly income, and the probability of choosing a rural job would increase to 92.8% if monthly income increased from RMB 2000 (US$ 296) to RMB 8000 (US$ 1183). They expressed higher stated preferences for a job which required light working strength and with excellent work environment over other non-economic attributes. Among all attributes, location was the least important attribute. Subgroup analysis showed that students who came from city or county and whose family income was more than RMB 50 000 (US$ 7396) were significantly willing to pay more monthly income for a job in city.ConclusionsThis study confirmed that economic and non-economic factors both affected the job choices of the students. These results may be more effective for policymakers to perfect the employment policies and design strategies to attract more nursing students taking jobs in rural areas.
Highlights
Shortage and mal-distribution of nursing human resources is an intractable problem in China
This study showed that the aspects prioritized by nursing students when choosing a position in basic medical and health institutions were as follows in descending order: monthly income, children’s educational conditions, bianzhi, location, working conditions, career development, and training opportunity
Setting and sample This study was conducted in Shandong Province, which is located in eastern China, with a population of about 100 million [29]
Summary
Shortage and mal-distribution of nursing human resources is an intractable problem in China. Mal-distribution of nursing human resources and other healthcare providers is a challenging issue in both developed and developing countries [7, 8]. From 2010 to 2015, registered nurses per 1000 population have increased from 3.09 to 4.75 in urban areas and only increased from 0.89 to 1.50 in rural areas [6]. It should be noted that within the hierarchical medical system, the number of registered nurses in basic medical and health institutions (including community health service centers in urban areas, and township hospitals and village clinics in rural areas) is much lower than the secondary and tertiary hospitals (0.70 million versus 2.81 million) [6]. The job transfer rate of Chinese nurses in basic medical and health institutions is high, and some of them move to other positions, such as administration and logistics [10]
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