Professional values in baccalaureate nursing education

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Professional Nursing Standards
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• The National League of Nursing (NLN) accredits baccalaureate nursing programs.
• The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) outlines seven essential values for professional nursing.
• Alignment between educational objectives and professional practice standards is crucial for nursing graduates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare NLN-accredited baccalaureate program objectives with AACN-defined professional nursing behaviors.
• To identify congruence and discrepancies between stated educational goals and expected professional conduct.

Main Methods:

• Content analysis of program objectives from NLN-accredited baccalaureate nursing programs.
• Comparison of identified objectives against the seven core values and associated professional behaviors outlined by the AACN.
• Classification of professional nursing behaviors according to the roles of baccalaureate graduates.

Main Results:

• A majority of professional nursing behaviors were present in the program objectives.
• Behaviors related to the values of truth and esthetics were found in a minority of program objectives.
• Research and lifelong learning were highly prevalent in objectives but not consistently reflected in AACN professional behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Baccalaureate nursing curricula largely reflect professional nursing behaviors, with a notable gap in the values of truth and esthetics.
• Discrepancies exist between emphasis on research/lifelong learning in objectives and their representation in professional behaviors.
• The provider-of-care role is the most emphasized among baccalaureate graduate roles, followed by member-of-profession and coordinator-of-care.