The effects of nursing education on professional values: A longitudinal study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: It is considered to be extremely important to ensure that nurses adopt professional values during their education in order to improve nursing practices and develop a professional identity. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of nursing education on development of professional values. DESIGN: This study was designed as a longitudinal study. SETTINGS The study was conducted in a nursing department at a nursing school in the western Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: The population of the study consisted of nursing students who were enrolled in the nursing department in academic year of 2011-2012. The data of the study were collected from 59 first-year students in 2011 and 83 fourth-year students in 2015. METHODS: The data of the study were collected using Personal Information Form and Nursing Professional Values Scale-NPVS. The participants responded to the same questionnaire in their first and fourth years in the department. RESULTS: The scale mean score of the students in their first year was 3.44±0.635. The highest scores were obtained from the subscales of responsibility, security, and autonomy. Their scale mean score in their fourth year was 3.93±0.727. The highest scores were obtained from the subscales of dignity and autonomy. The difference between the mean scores was statistically significant (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that nursing education had a significant effect on development of professional values.