Professional values of the nursing student's perspective in type 1 universities of medical sciences

Professional values are fundamental elements of nursing practice that often are taught informally. Therefore it is important to assess the students’ perspective in this area. Purpose of the present study was to determine the perspective of nursing students about the importance of nurses’ professional values in medical universities of type 1 as institutions with the highest level of educational service. This analytical- descriptive research utilized a one-stage cluster sampling method to investigate the professional values of 131 graduated nursing students in three medical universities of type 1 in their last semester in 2011. For data collection, a two-part, self- report questionnaire was used which included demographic variables and the standard tool of Nursing Professional Values Scale- Revised (NPVS-R) developed by Weis and Schank. This instrument consisted 26-item in the five dimensions (caring, activism, trust, professionalism and justice) at five- point Likert-Scale format (from not important to very important). Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) was (α= 0.92). Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), inferential non-parametric statistics (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient in SPSS 13. Mean scores of caring, activism, trust, professionalism, justice and overall dimensions according to five- point Likert-Scale was 3.52, 3.19, 3.76, 3.48, 3.74 and 3.52 respectively. Two of the top NPVS-R statements in the students were “Maintain competency in area of practice” (trust dimension) and “Maintain confidentiality of patient”(caring dimension). Additionally, the students rated “Participate in peer review”(professionalism dimension) and “Participate in activities of professional nursing associations and research” (activism dimension) in the lowest statements. There was significant relationship between gender, economic conditions of family and the total average with student’s perspective on professional values (p<0.05). Although the total mean scores of nursing students were in the range of ‘fairly important’ to ‘important’ in the Likert Scale, but the most graduating students are not aware about the importance of some values’ dimensions and statements related to their non-clinical tasks. However, appropriate planning and teaching methods is required to enhance the overall area of nursing professional values.