Employment intention and career planning of male nursing students in different levels of colleges and universities: A qualitative study

AIM: To explore the employment intention and career planning of male nursing students at different levels of colleges and universities and provide references for formulating individualized training content. DESIGN: Phenomenological research method in qualitative research. METHODS: Using a phenomenological research method, 15 male nursing students from three levels of colleges and universities were interviewed in a one‐to‐half structure, and the data were analysed using NVivo12.0 software and the Colaizzi seven‐step analysis method. RESULTS: Four themes and 10 sub‐themes were extracted. The four themes included professional identity experience, nursing learning experience, career expectation and planning and educational needs. The 10 sub‐themes included the negative effects of traditional impressions, the gradual establishment of professional identity, public health events promote professional identity, negative experiences in learning, positive growth from learning, varied career plans, career expectations and influencing factors, a reasonable schedule, diversity of content requirements and the positive effect of teaching teachers. CONCLUSIONS: Influenced by many factors, the employment intention and career planning of male nursing students at different higher education levels are varied. Schools and clinical practice units should strengthen the training of employment intention and career planning and make reasonable time adjustments to the training content. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: In total, 15 male interns accepted our interview request. We utilized their break time to conduct the interviews, resulting in significant contributions to the content of the article.