Predictors of Professional Values in Male and Female Nurses

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine the professional values of nurses and to examine the predictors of professional values by gender. Method: This descriptive study was conducted as an e-survey with 542 nurses in Turkey. The data were collected by using the Nurse Introductory Information Form and the Nurses' Professional Values Scale (NPVS). Results: The NPVS total scores and the Action and Autonomy sub-dimension scores of the nurses with a bachelor's degree or higher, and the NPVS total score of the nurses working day shifts only were found to be significantly high (p<0.05). The NPVS total scores and the scores of Responsibility, Safety, and Autonomy sub-dimensions of male nurses with a bachelor's degree or higher were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05); the Autonomy scores of female nurses with a bachelor's degree or higher were found to be high (p<0.01). The NPVS total scores and the scores of the Human Dignity, Responsibility, and Action sub-dimensions of male nurses working day shifts only were found to be high (p<0.05). The NPVS Responsibility sub-dimension score of male nurses working in a state hospital was found to be low (p<0.05). Conclusion: Female nurses attach more importance to professional values than male nurses. While the predictors of the professional values in male nurses were educational status, type of work shift, and the type of institution they worked in, the educational status of female nurses, who a had relatively higher and more homogeneous level of professional values compared to men, were predictive of professional values.

Keywords

• professional values
• gender
• nurses