Background: Career planning in nursing is often haphazard, with many studies showing that nurses need personal\nmotivation, education, and the support of workplaces, which are often dominated by political and fiscal agendas.\nNurses often need institutional and personal support to plan their careers and make decisions regarding their\ncareer aspirations.\nMethod: A descriptive qualitative design was used. Data were gathered using semi-structured digitally recorded\ninterviews and analysed for common categories. Twenty seven (n = 27) participants were interviewed.\nResults: There were four categories revealed by the participants who described their career progression\nexperiences: moving up the ladder, changing jobs for career progression, self-driven and the effects of institutional\nenvironments.\nConclusion: Many of the participants� careers had been shaped serendipitously. Similar to other studies, these\nnurses felt political, institutional and financial factors impacted on their career opportunities. There are implications\nfor nursing managers with more support required for nurses to plan their career trajectories. In addition to an\norganisation centred approach to career planning, nurse leaders and managers must take into account the personal\nand professional requirements of their nurses. Nurses themselves also need to take personal responsibility for career\ndevelopment. Greater support for nurses� career planning and personal drive will help organisations to plan their\nfuture workforce needs.
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