Introduction:

Choosing any nursing specialties arises from motivations, which are evidenced according to the subjective well-being or happiness that nurses feel from the moment that they are studying their specialties.

Objective:

To identify the relationship between the reasons for choosing specialties and subjective well-being in nurses from second specialization programs.

Methods:

Descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional study carried out in 2017 at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru. The study population was 177 nurses starting the second specialty program and the sample consisted of 121 nurses. The sample size was calculated statistically by stratified sampling. The data collection technique was the survey, while the measurement instrument was a questionnaire of reasons for choosing any specialties and a scale to measure subjective well-being. For the correlation of variables, the Spearman correlation coefficient (p < 0.05, statistical significance) was used.

Results:

The main reasons that led the nurses to choose their specialties were the social value of the chosen specialty (87.26%) and the vocation and interest in the major (66.53%). Regarding subjective well-being, 65.29% considered themselves happy, highlighting the dimension personal fulfillment (65.37%). Furthermore, there was a relationship between the reasons for choosing any specialties and subjective well-being in nurses (rho= 0.394; p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

The nurses of the second specialization program had an acceptable subjective well-being, included in the category happy. Such well-being is related to the reasons that led them to choose their specialties, in which case there were more intrinsic orientation reasons.

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