Identifying the Importance Level of Factors Influencing the Selection of Nursing as a Career Choice Using AHP: Survey to Compare the Precedence of Private Vocational High School Nursing Students and their Parents

Choosing a carrier is a kind of multi-criteria decision making problem and it is a crucial decision in people's life. The aim of this study was to determine the precedence order of the factors influencing choice of nursing as a carrier. The survey participants were the nursing students of Mektebim Anatolian Vocational High School for Health and their parents. In analyzing the data, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology was used. In this study, subjective opinions of nursing students and their parents turn into quantitative form with Analytic Hierarchy Process. This study found that “academic staff”, “want nursing profession” and “job guarantee” were more important factors for parents in choosing their children's nursing career. Among the criteria, the criterion of “the security of nursing school”, “income of nursing profession” and “developing profession” had the highest weight for students. Results of this study can be used by school management, nurse leaders, Ministry Of National Education, Ministry Of Health, nursing academicians and education science academicians etc.