Employment intentions of vocational nursing students toward geriatric care in central China

Background

Global population aging has raised worldwide demand for geriatric care practitioners, including in China. Vocational nursing students are key reserve workforce for geriatric care, yet few enter this sector. Existing studies have explored individual factors shaping geriatric care employment intention, but few examine interactive effects of family support, experiential exposure and personal cognitive factors, or extend Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to Chinese vocational nursing education.