Aim: This study was conducted to explore the combination of different conditional variables that led to high career aspiration of intern nursing students. Background: A severe shortage of nurses exists nationwide, and nurses’ low career aspiration contribute to high turnover rates and hinder the high-quality development of the nursing field. Nursing students undergoing clinical practice will become the backbone of future nursing staff. Enhancing their career aspiration is crucial for developing nursing career education and stabilizing the nursing team. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Using the cluster sampling method, 521 intern nursing students from Henan and Anhui in China were selected as participants from December 2023 to January 2024. Methods: This study employed the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore the configuration for paths of leading to high career aspiration among intern nursing students. General information questionnaires, career aspiration scale, clinical practice maladjustment scale, self-reflection and insight scale were used as measures in this study. Results: The results showed that students’ origin, professional attitude, GPA, self-reflection and insight, relationship with preceptors and clinical practice maladjustment have a combined effect on career aspiration. This study found that eight configuration combined into four models could explain 75.9 % of high-level career aspiration (solution consistency = 0.786; solution coverage = 0.759). Conclusion: The level of career aspiration among intern nursing students is the result of the combination of different conditional variables. Using a configurational perspective to intervene in nursing students with various characteristics is expected to enhance the career aspiration of intern nursing students. © 2024
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