Career choice is someoneʼs inclination to one of various professions which s/he believes that the job includes activities which s/he is best at and will be the most satisfying one for her/himself (Özpancar and Aydin 2008). A research study inquiring aboutprofessional values and career choice was conducted with nursing students from a midwest USA nursing program and a nursing program in Turkey. In this study, the mean scores of nursing students in the US and nursing students in Turkey obtained on Nursing Career Decision Scalewere compared.Vocational Congruence mean score of USA students (38.5±5.9) was found to be higher than that of Turkey students (29.6±8.9). When comparing the Survival Needs subscale scores, mean score of Turkey students (17,2±4,5) was found to be significantly higher than that of USA students (15,8±3,9). These findings showed that USA students primarily considered suitability of a profession for themselves whereas Turkey students firstly considered living conditions.

Biography:
Joyce Simones has been a nursing professor for over 25 years of baccalaureate teaching in the areas of Leadership, Medical/Surgical, Ethics, Foundations, and Home Care. Her clinical areas of practice have been critical/cardiac care and home care. Her research and publications have involved student thinking during medication administration, delegation through simulation, professional values, career choice, role of the RN in the emergency trauma unit, and role of the RN in home care after the Prospective Payment System. She has traveled with nursing students to Guatemala and Chile.