Professional values among BSc nursing students and their perception of the status of nursing as a profession

ABSTRACT Professional values are the values reflected in our relationship with clients, colleagues and the significant others. The ‘Code of Ethics’ for nurses provide directions for relationship of nurses to clients, community and the profession and it delineates the fundamental values of professional nursing. Objectives: To describe and correlate the professional values of B Sc Nursing students and their perception on status of nursing as a profession; to compare the professional values and perceptions of I, II, III and IV year students; to find out the relationship of professional value and perception scores of students with their socio-economic status. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was done in selected Nursing Colleges in Kerala with total sample size 580, using multi-stage random sampling. Data collection tools used were Socio-Demographic Factors Inventory; Professional Value Scale for Nursing Students and Semantic Differential Scale on Perception on Status of Nursing as a Profession. Results:Analysis showed that majority, 239 (41.2%) of subjects had ‘very good’ level of Professional values. The perception of students about the status of nursing was interpreted by the sores given by them for items in the Semantic differential scale from 0 to 7. The characteristics which received score 7 by majority of subjects were ‘Essential for society’ (79.8%); Responsible (68.6%) and Ethical (51%). Statistically significant correlation(r = 0.187, P =0.001), was found between professional value score and perception score. Professional values were highest among IV year students and the perception score was highest among I years. Socio-economic status had significant relationship with perception of students, but not with their professional values. Conclusion: The study concluded that B Sc Nursing students in Kerala had very good level of professional values. They perceived nursing as essential for society, responsible and ethical, as well as ‘dependent’ rather than autonomous and ‘mechanical work’ rather than intellectual work.