Improving nursing students' perspective taking, perceptions of humanness, and attitudes toward older adults.

Whereas prior work has examined the role of nursing courses in improving empathic skills and reducing dehumanization of older adults, little research has explored how perspective taking and perceptions of humanness of older adults acquired through nursing curricula predict attitudes toward this age group. Nursing students (N = 43) completed surveys at the beginning (Time 1) and end of gerontological coursework (Time 2). Perspective taking and perceived human nature and human uniqueness of older adults increased from Time 1 to Time 2. Perceived human nature of older adults was associated with more positive attitudes at the end of the semester, compared to the beginning. Improved perceptions of the human nature of older adults also predicted lower ageism at the end of the semester. Strategies for improving perspective taking and perceptions of humanness of older adults in nursing courses are discussed.

Core professional nursing values of baccalaureate nursing students who are men.

BACKGROUND: The perceptions of core professional nursing values of men in baccalaureate nursing programs are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: The study purpose was to understand and interpret the meaning of core professional nursing values to male baccalaureate nursing students. RESEARCH DESIGN AND CONTEXT: One-to-one interviews were conducted with male nursing students from a public university in the Midwest, following interpretive phenomenology. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Measures to protect participants included obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, obtaining signed informed consent, and maintaining confidentiality. FINDINGS: The study revealed five themes and several subthemes under an overarching finding of caring. Acquisition of professional nursing values began prior to the nursing program and continued to varying degrees throughout the program. DISCUSSION: Several implications are offered for nursing education, nursing practice, research, and public policy. These include identification of common values, teaching-learning strategies, inclusive environments, teamwork, and conflict resolution. CONCLUSION: Caring was revealed using a metaphor of a puzzle.

Professional Nursing Values in Men: An NPVS-R Instrument Validation Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although the Nurses Professional Values Scale-Revised (NPVS-R) has been validated in predominantly female samples, this instrument has not been validated with adequate samples of men. The purpose of the study was to assess the reliability and validity of the NPVS-R in a sample of male nurses and nursing students. METHODS: Psychometric testing was performed, using principal component analysis (PCA), on a convenience sample of 329 men in nursing from the United States. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Participants rated the values in the NPVS-R as important, although undergraduate students significantly less so than graduate students or nurses. Factor labels of caring, professionalism, and activism were similar to those in previous studies. Variations across responses to particular items may reflect cultural variations. CONCLUSIONS: Although further testing is needed, results from the current study indicate that the NPVS-R is a valid and reliable scale when administered to a sample of male nurses and nursing students.

Professional nursing values: A concept analysis.

AIM: The aim of this concept analysis is to clarify the meaning of professional nursing values. BACKGROUND: In a time of increasing ethical dilemmas, it is essential that nurses internalize professional values to develop and maintain a professional identity. However, nursing organizations and researchers provide different conceptions of professional nursing values, leading to a lack of clarity as to the meaning and attributes of this construct. DESIGN: Walker and Avant's (2011) method was used to guide an analysis of this concept. DATA SOURCE: Resources published from 1973 to 2016 were identified via electronic databases and hand-searching of reference lists. REVIEW METHODS: A review of the literature was completed and the data were analyzed to identify uses of the concept; the defining attributes of the concept; borderline, related, contrary, and illegitimate examples; antecedents and consequences; and empirical referents. RESULTS: Professional nursing values were defined as important professional nursing principles of human dignity, integrity, altruism, and justice that serve as a framework for standards, professional practice, and evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed in the development and testing of professional nursing values theory, and the reassessment of values instruments. Core professional values that are articulated may help unify the profession and demonstrate the value of nursing to the public.

Becoming Inclusive: A Code of Conduct for Inclusion and Diversity.

There are increasing concerns about exclusionary behaviors and lack of diversity in the nursing profession. Exclusionary behaviors, which may include incivility, bullying, and workplace violence, discriminate and isolate individuals and groups who are different, whereas inclusive behaviors encourage diversity. To address inclusion and diversity in nursing, this article offers a code of conduct. This code of conduct builds on existing nursing codes of ethics and applies to nursing students and nurses in both educational and practice settings. Inclusive behaviors that are demonstrated in nurses' relationships with patients, colleagues, the profession, and society are described. This code of conduct provides a basis for measureable change, empowerment, and unification of the profession. Recommendations, implications, and a pledge to action are discussed.

Evaluating an accelerated nursing program: a dashboard for diversity.

Diversity is a topic of increasing attention in higher education and the nursing workforce. Experts have called for a nursing workforce that mirrors the population it serves. Students in nursing programs in the United States do not reflect our country's diverse population; therefore, much work is needed before that goal can be reached. Diversity cannot be successfully achieved in nursing education without inclusion and attention to quality. The Inclusive Excellence framework can be used by nurse educators to promote inclusion, diversity, and excellence. In this framework, excellence and diversity are linked in an intentional metric-driven process. Accelerated programs offer a possible venue to promote diversity, and one accelerated program is examined using a set of metrics and a dashboard approach commonly used in business settings. Several recommendations were made for future assessment, interventions, and monitoring. Nurse educators are called to examine and adopt a diversity dashboard in all nursing programs.

Advancing diversity through inclusive excellence in nursing education.

Nurse leaders call for a more diverse nursing workforce, but too few address the concept of inclusion as a recruitment and retention strategy or as part of improving the academic learning milieu. This article addresses organizational considerations of diversity and inclusion as part of the agenda established by the Association of American Colleges and Universities for inclusive excellence, building on the idea that academic environments only become excellent when an inclusive climate is reached. Six organizational strategies to inclusion are presented from the authors' experiences, some structural and others behavioral: admissions processes, invisibility, absence of community, promotion and tenure, exclusion, and tokenism. A call for structural and behavioral adaptions within nursing education to advance an inclusive excellence agenda is presented.