Measuring Professional Values Among Jordanian and Palestinian Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Background Professional values provide a road map for guiding the behaviors of nursing students during practice and are considered standards for acceptable actions during the provision of nursing care. Nursing educators play a vital role in helping their students embrace professional values in their future career. Purpose This study was designed to assess and compare professional values among Jordanian and Palestinian undergraduate nursing students. Methods In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 182 Jordanian and 353 Palestinian nursing students completed the Nurses Professional Values Scale-Revised (NPVS-R), which covers five domains (caring, trust, justice, activism, and professionalism). Results The mean age of the participants was 22.5 years, and most (56.6%) were female. The mean total score for the NPVS-R was 3.85, with the "justice"dimension receiving the highest mean score (4.07) and the "activism"dimension receiving the lowest mean score (3.63). The differences in mean NPVS-R total and dimension scores between the Jordanian and Palestinian students were not statistically significant. Conclusions The results of this study support that Jordanian and Palestinian undergraduate nursing students have an acceptable level of professional values, with the NPVS-R justice domain scoring relatively high and the NPVS-R activism domain scoring relatively low. The authors hope that the results of this study encourage nursing educators to continue improving professional values among their students, especially with regard to the relatively low-rated dimensions.