Research conducted by Pham, Cowman, and Williamson, and advised by Kendall House and Amy Spurlock indicates that generational distribution differences and the variation between pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing versus online RN-BSN in the Boise State University College of Nursing provided different descriptive outlook statistics in regards to motivation to remain in healthcare and perception of risk for mask wearing in a clinical setting with patients. Results from a survey of 50 individuals (pre-licensure BSN & online RN-BSN) indicated a negative desire to remain in healthcare proceeding the COVID-19 pandemic, with the largest proportion stemming from the millennial generation or online RN-BSN. A larger neutral viewpoint on a healthcare career proceeding COVID-19 was found for the pre-licensure BSN and Gen Z/Gen X generations. Significant positive correlation among patient interaction and mask wearing were also found in all the respondents, with all generations reporting a higher perception of risk when not wearing masks in a clinical setting. Results have suggested that varying demographic categorization for the nursing field will result in differing perspectives for their career outlooks and perception of risk
