Registered Nurses' Perspectives on Career Development in Social and Healthcare in Finland: Leadership as a Career Path
Sihvonen, Laura (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121637348
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121637348
Tiivistelmä
The career development of a registered nurse is timely research topic in Finnish social and healthcare, where staff shortages, heavy workloads, and turnover challenge the system. Leadership roles offer registered nurses opportunities for professional growth, but access to these roles are not always transparent or systematically supported.
The aim of this thesis was to explore how registered nurses perceive leadership paths as part of their career development and what opportunities they see for advancing to managerial or leadership roles. A search about previous literature provided the foundation for the study and summarized current knowledge on the topic. The research data were collected in September 2025 using a questionnaire answered by 43 registered nurses from different parts of Finland. The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods, providing a broad overview as well as a deeper understanding of perspectives.
The results show that registered nurses consider career development important, but opportunities for development vary depending on individual initiative and organizational support structures. Manager support, transparent career paths, development discussions, and access to education are seen as key enablers of career development, while unclear career structures act as barriers.
This thesis provides insights for improving career development in the social and healthcare sector and emphasizes the role of managers and organizations in supporting registered nurses’ career development. The findings can be used to improve orientation models, clarify career paths, and support registered nurses’ professional development and retention.
Keywords: Registered nurses, career development, leadership, manageral work
The aim of this thesis was to explore how registered nurses perceive leadership paths as part of their career development and what opportunities they see for advancing to managerial or leadership roles. A search about previous literature provided the foundation for the study and summarized current knowledge on the topic. The research data were collected in September 2025 using a questionnaire answered by 43 registered nurses from different parts of Finland. The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods, providing a broad overview as well as a deeper understanding of perspectives.
The results show that registered nurses consider career development important, but opportunities for development vary depending on individual initiative and organizational support structures. Manager support, transparent career paths, development discussions, and access to education are seen as key enablers of career development, while unclear career structures act as barriers.
This thesis provides insights for improving career development in the social and healthcare sector and emphasizes the role of managers and organizations in supporting registered nurses’ career development. The findings can be used to improve orientation models, clarify career paths, and support registered nurses’ professional development and retention.
Keywords: Registered nurses, career development, leadership, manageral work