Nursing students' evolving professional values: Capturing their journey through co-operative inquiry

Despite a worldwide emphasis in nursing codes of practice that state nurses must uphold professional values to be caring and compassionate, evidence continues to emerge of poor-quality care standards. Existing literature attests to a tendency to deteriorating caring values as students' progress through their nursing programme. In response, one university in England exposed pre-registration nursing students to a values-based curriculum which embedded Todres et al.'s (2009) Humanising Values Framework.

This paper describes the later stages of a co-operative inquiry, where students as participants explore their evolving values around person-centred approaches to care as they engaged with clinical practice. Data were collected between 2013 and 2016.

Findings reveal how students developed their confidence and resilience in the face of situations that challenged their value base by internalising a humanised approach to care. They demonstrated this in practice by using problem-based coping strategies, peer and mentor support. Engagement with a curriculum based on humanistic philosophy encouraged students as participants to feel confident in the practice of person-centred care.