The Face of Crisis: Examining Factors Affecting Nurses' Professional Values During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background/Objectives: Nurses' professional values are closely linked to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and establishing objectives at work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these relationships became especially crucial, yet they remain underexplored in the context of Southeast Asia. This study aimed to examine how these organizational and motivational factors influence professional values among nurses in a large public hospital in Thailand. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 336 registered nurses who had at least six months of experience caring for COVID-19 patients. Standardized instruments were employed to measure job satisfaction, organizational commitment, establishing objectives at work, and professional values, and correlation analyses were conducted to assess associations between variables. Results: Job satisfaction correlated positively with professional values (r = 0.505, β = 0.097), while organizational commitment showed the strongest association (r = 0.620, β = 0.528). Establishing objectives at work was also positively related, though to a lesser extent (r = 0.236, β = 0.086). Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of supportive work environments that foster motivation, recognition, and career development in sustaining nurses' professional values, especially in times of crisis. This study also serves as a reference for the development of the nursing workforce in post-pandemic healthcare systems, with implications for international health policy and workforce planning.