As graduation time nears and decisions about what jobs to take loom on the horizon, it’s helpful to know what matters to nursing students. Money? Sure. Location? Of course. But what is No. 1 on the list? Positive working conditions, according to a recent survey of 1,626 nursing students by AMN Healthcare. Having low nurse-patient ratios was second on the list, while favorable work hours, pay rates, and geographic location rounded out the top five.

AMN Healthcare, the largest temporary healthcare staffing company in the United States, sent out 10,000 surveys last May. The lists of nurses were selected at random, according to a press release from the company. The goal was simply to learn about the concerns and career plans of future nurses as they enter the profession. Here are some other eye-opening statistics from the AMN 2007 Survey of Nurse Students:

• 22% of nurses surveyed said they expected to make $35,001-$40,000 in their first year as a nurse, marking the highest percentage. That was followed by $40,001-$45,000 (19%) and $45,001-$50,000 (16%). Only 1% expected to make $20,000 or less.
• 35% of nurses surveyed said they’d never been contacted by hospitals, staffing firms, or anyone involved with recruiting. Only 14% said that they’d been contacted by more than 10 organizations.
• 56% of nurses surveyed said they hadn’t been recruited at all in the 30 days prior to taking the survey.
• Only 18% of nurses surveyed said ability to travel was the most important factor when deciding on a nursing job.
• 81% of nurses surveyed said they were most likely to take a permanent job with a hospital or medical group. 0% said they were likely to take a non-nursing job.
• 62% of nurses surveyed said the pressure to not make mistakes was their biggest concern at the outset of their nursing careers. Pay rates (45%) and rude/hostile nurses (42%) rounded out the top three.
• 43% of nurses surveyed owe $10,000 or more in student loans.
• Most nurses (21.3%) surveyed said they’d like to work in a place where the population is 50,001-100,000. Only 5.4% want to work in a place with a population larger than 1,000,000 and only 4.7% want to work in a rural area with a population less than 10,000.
• 91% of nurses surveyed said they’d choose nursing if they had to begin their education again. The rest (9%) would pick another field.

While the various results can be interpreted many different ways, the survey showed that student nurses may not being recruited as heavily as anticipated. Additionally, emerging factors (positive working conditions, favorable shifts) are taking the place of traditional incentives such as money.

For a copy of the complete survey, please click here.

Editor’s note: Be sure to check back on the site soon, as one nursing student will be sharing her take on finding a job after graduation.