Nurses' professional values: Influences of experience and ethics education

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Professional Ethics
• Healthcare Education

Background:

• Professional nursing values are crucial for high-quality patient care.
• The American Nurses Association's code of ethics guides professional values globally.
• Practice environments significantly influence nurses' professional values.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure registered nurses' professional values.
• To assess the relationship between professional values and ethics education.
• To determine the impact of experience on professional values.

Main Methods:

• Causal-comparative design utilized.
• Electronic survey administered to 2,439 registered nurses in Washington State.
• Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and correlation analyses performed.

Main Results:

• Years of experience positively correlated with professional values; nurses with 10+ years scored highest.
• A modest positive relationship observed between professional values and postlicensure ethics education.
• Identified specific professional values of high and low importance to nurses.

Conclusions:

• Washington State nurses' professional values align with national and global counterparts.
• Longer experience and increased ethics education are linked to stronger professional values.
• Supporting professional values through ethics education can enhance retention and patient care.