The Midwifery Students Vocational Belonging Levels And Affecting Factors Determination

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the professional affiliation of midwifery students. Methods: This study is descriptive and cross-sectional. The research was conducted between 01.03.2020-01.04.2020 at a state university in southern Türkiye, Department of Midwifery. Sample Size Calculator -Australian Calculated by Bureau of Statistics. In the calculation, the number of samples was determined as 198. The population of the research consisted of a total of 200 students studying in the midwifery department of the relevant faculty in the 2019-2020 academic year. Data were collected with the "Personal Information Form" and "Midwifery Belonging Scale". The scale consists of 22 items and the Cronbach-α coefficient is 0.936. The data were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test (Z-table value) and Kruskal -Wallis H test method and Bonferroni correction from the SPSS 24 package program. Results: The average age of the students is 20.64±1.56 years and 74.0% of them stated that their family was at the middle income level. It was determined that 69.5% of the students chose the profession willingly, 83.5% loved their profession, and 41.0% had positive thoughts about the midwifery department before starting school. It was determined that the average score of all students on the Midwifery Belonging Scale was 88.47. There is a statistically significant difference between the students' scores on the Midwifery Belonging Scale and their class, age, choosing the profession voluntarily, liking the profession, and their thoughts about the midwifery department before starting school (p<0.05). Conclusion: In the study, it was determined that the students' midwifery affiliation levels were high. Students' class, age, choosing the profession willingly, liking the profession, and their thoughts about the midwifery department before starting school are factors that affect their level of professional belonging.