Correlation between job security as motivation and career maturity among Japanese nursing students.

Objective: For nursing students, career maturity -an individual's readiness to cope with career development tasks and make age-appropriate career decisions- is an essential factor influencing their desire to continue the job after qualifying as a nurse. Although job security as motivation to become a nurse might influence the career maturity of nursing students, it has not been demonstrated. In this study I aimed to elucidate the correlation between job security as motivation and career maturity among Japanese nursing students. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in 2012, through an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire, on 237 Japanese nursing students. Data on career maturity, job security as motivation, and personal characteristics were collected followed by data analysis using multiple regression. Results: Job security as motivation ("A nursing job is not affected by the economic climate") was significantly correlated with career maturity ( β = -0.29; p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that being motivated by job security negatively affects career maturity. Hence, at an early stage, basic nursing educators should identify nursing students with low career maturity by assessing whether they are motivated by job security, and if so, efficiently providing support to improve their career maturity.