Introduction: Nursing is gaining recognition as a profession. The image of both nurses and nursing as a profession are vital in the successful recruitment. The nurses are the backbone of the health care sector and are fundamental in the delivery of the quality care for all the inhabitants of a country. Nursing students come into nursing education with a inherent lay beliefs of nursing that evolve over years of education, enabling them to be professionally socialized into the nursing carrier.

From the time immemorial the world nursing had been equated with care. It is the care domain which differentiates it from other health related professionals. Changing health needs on one hand and expanding knowledge on the other has made remarkable impact on nursing profession.

Perception is the way in which something regards understood or interpreted. It is important to as certain how student perceive nursing and the decision to choose nursing to be their career. Nursing is the care domain which differentiates it from other health related profession. With increasing job opportunities in the country and abroad along with increase in the nursing institutes, one can clearly appreciate the increase in the enrolment of nursing students. Nursing as a career choice is often perceived as a hard work from involving high pressure and stress. Therefore, perception plays a vital role in moulding the individual as a person and professional.

Objectives: To assess the perception of first year Bsc students towards nursing as a profession. To assess the perception of fourth year Bsc nursing student towards nursing as a profession. To compare the perception of first year Bsc and fourth year Bsc nursing students towards nursing as a profession.

Methodology: A Comparative survey approach is used for this study. This study was conducted in a selected college of nursing, Mangalore.

120 samples were selected by simple random sampling technique from first year and fourth year B. Sc nursing. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Result: The findings of the study showed that the mean perception of first year B. Sc nursing is 40.5- and fourth-year B. Sc nursing is 39.58. The mean scores were not statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance.