[The meaning of the profession to students beginning a Nursing undergraduate course].

This qualitative study aimed to describe the meaning of the profession to beginners in a Nursing undergraduate course. A structured interview was administered to 33 students of the first semester in a public university in Rio de Janeiro, in 2006. Ethical principles were respected.

[Nursing as an option: profile of undergraduate of two teaching institutions].

This is a descriptive-exploratory study, aiming at comparing socioeconomic profile of students of two teaching institutions of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro and factors that interfere in their option to choose Nursing. The study was composed by 152 students of Institution (A) and 120 of (B) who were admitted to the undergraduate course in 2004 and 2005. The analysis evidenced that the majority belongs to middle and lower middle class and are young adults, single women.