Qualitative study maps varied career paths among first-year Palestinian nursing students

First-year nursing students who entered nursing without preferring it as a career described divergent experiences in a qualitative study conducted at Modern University College in Palestine. At the time of their interviews, 12 of the 24 participants, or 50.0%, described accepting nursing; six, or 25.0%, expressed conditional acceptance linked to a specialty aligned with their original interests; three, or 12.5%, remained uncertain about continuing; and three, also 12.5%, continued to consider alternative careers. The findings indicate that an initial mismatch between students’ career preferences and their chosen field did not produce a single, predictable response.

Researchers used an exploratory qualitative design to examine how first-year nursing students in Palestine experienced and interpreted entering an unpreferred career. They purposively recruited 24 students from one institution and conducted individual semi-structured interviews lasting 30–45 minutes between May and August 2026. The researchers analyzed the interviews using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis and reported the study in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research, known as COREQ. Because the research was qualitative and limited to one college, it was designed to explore experiences in depth rather than estimate the prevalence of attitudes among nursing students across Palestine.

Six themes emerged from the interviews, covering students’ movement from an unfulfilled career preference through family pressure and pre-entry stereotypes to re-evaluation of nursing during the first year. Admission restrictions, parental influence and economic considerations were presented in the study’s background as possible reasons for choosing nursing as an alternative, but the reported results do not quantify the effect of each factor on individual participants. Students’ accounts also differed in what they wanted from nursing. Some associated their reconsideration with coursework, learning in skills laboratories and supportive relationships with faculty and senior students. These experiences were associated with reconsidering perceptions of nursing; the study does not demonstrate that any particular educational approach caused students’ views to change.

The study’s results should be interpreted within several limits. All participants were first-year students at a single institution, and their accounts were self-reported, so the findings may not represent students in other colleges, regions or educational systems. The interviews also captured an early stage of career formation rather than long-term retention in nursing, professional identity or clinical competence. Nevertheless, the research documents a varied process in which early education and supportive relationships may provide opportunities for some students to learn about nursing and reconsider their career options, while leaving others uncertain or committed to alternatives. The evidence supports viewing career-choice mismatch as a developing and heterogeneous experience rather than as a guaranteed route to acceptance or departure.

Subject of Research: First-year Palestinian nursing students’ experiences of entering nursing as an unpreferred career

Article Title: This was not my first choice”: a qualitative exploration of first-year nursing students’ experiences of entering an unpreferred career

Article References: Barghouthi, E. D., Marawaa, A., & Abbad, Y. (2026). This was not my first choice”: a qualitative exploration of first-year nursing students’ experiences of entering an unpreferred career. BMC Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-026-05551-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12912-026-05551-6

Keywords: nursing education, career choice, first-year students, Palestine, qualitative research, thematic analysis, student experience, professional formation, first, choice, qualitative, exploration