To analyse the changes in senior students' opinions about the nursing profession over a 10‐year period.

A descriptive and comparative study.

Data were collected using a questionnaire form, which was completed by 400 senior high school students in Çankiri city center during 2007–2008 (Group 1) and 2017–2018 (Group 2) academic years.

Compared with 10 years ago, more students referred to nurses as ‘knowledgeable, concerned, and tolerant’. There were fewer students who knew the duties of nurses. There were significantly fewer students who wanted to be nurses and many who wanted to be nurses in both groups said it was ‘because they love nursing’. Compared with 10 years ago, more students said they wanted to be nurses because their parents wanted them to be nurses, but fewer students said they wanted to be nurses because they love people. There were more students who did not want to be nurses ‘because it is tiring and entails irregular work hours’. However, more students said that they would like to go into nursing if the salary was satisfactory.

The study showed that, compared with 10 years ago, more students defined nurses as knowledgeable and professional. They reported they did not currently wish to enter the nursing profession, but that they would do so if the wages were high.

This study aims to determine the change in young individuals' opinions about the nursing profession in Turkey over a 10‐year period. Due to poor work conditions in the nursing profession, most of the students did not want to be nurses, but their opinions might change if nurses' salaries were satisfactory. Academicians and nurses play an important role in introducing the nursing profession to students when they choose their career and informing high school teachers, who advise these students.