Professional Perspectives Among Nursing Students

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a serious problem in the field of health care related to the shortage of health professionals. This is a problem of global scale, which also exists in our country. According to official data from the National Statistical Institute, the number of working nurses in Bulgaria in 2023 is 28,570 and the number of practicing doctors is 29,911, which shows that if a normal ratio of 2 to 1 is to be reached, at least another 30,000 nurses are needed in the system. According to data for the same year, the educational system trains about 540 nurses per year, and 890 leave the health system for various reasons, which further highlights the problem of turnover of health personnel. In addition to the downward trend in the number of nurse practitioners, there is also an increase in the average annual age of workers, as in 2023 in Bulgaria more than a third of those working in the system are of retirement age, a third are of pre-retirement age - over 58 years old, and the rest are of active working age. The presented problems are indicators of an outflow from the profession of "Nurse" and mark the need to expand professional prospects, as well as the development of mechanisms for promoting the specialty, respectively. profession among society and the labor market. The purpose of this study is to study the attitude of students studying in the specialty "Nursing" to professional prospects in the field of health care. Future health professionals have a key role in the continuity and development of nursing, which makes their opinion on professional prospects for realization of particular importance not only for healthcare but also for the nursing profession. The presented data show that the trend is changing in a positive direction, as the majority of future bachelors are motivated to realize and develop in the field of health care in our country.