AIM: This paper reports a study investigating changes in the self-reported values of nursing students over the period 1983-2005 in the light of changes in student demography. BACKGROUND: Nurses' values have been studied by both qualitative and survey methods over half a century. Generally idealism and altruism are said to wane as a result of professional socialisation, whilst honesty has been rarely examined. METHOD: Building on an instrument designed by William Scott, further items were developed which addressed value orientations in a nursing context. Using a Likert scale and demographic items, a 1983 survey of three schools of nursing in England was repeated with a comparable population of students in 2005. FINDINGS: Student valuing of altruism and honesty has changed in important ways in the intervening decades. Nursing students are now generally less altruistic (P = 0.01) but value honesty with patients a great deal more (P = 0.01) than their counterparts in 1983. CONCLUSION: The current situation, with older students having more domestic responsibilities and some students needing to have extra jobs besides their nursing course, seems to have led them to adopt a pragmatic approach. However, there are encouraging changes in the valuing of honesty with patients, which reflect in part students' increased maturity and changed social attitudes to healthcare professional paternalism.
AIM: This paper reports a study investigating changes in the self-reported values of nursing students over the period 1983-2005 in the light of changes in student demography. BACKGROUND: Nurses' values have been studied by both qualitative and survey methods over half a century. Generally idealism and altruism are said to wane as a result of professional socialisation, whilst honesty has been rarely examined. METHOD: Building on an instrument designed by William Scott, further items were developed which addressed value orientations in a nursing context. Using a Likert scale and demographic items, a 1983 survey of three schools of nursing in England was repeated with a comparable population of students in 2005. FINDINGS: Student valuing of altruism and honesty has changed in important ways in the intervening decades. Nursing students are now generally less altruistic (P = 0.01) but value honesty with patients a great deal more (P = 0.01) than their counterparts in 1983. CONCLUSION: The current situation, with older students having more domestic responsibilities and some students needing to have extra jobs besides their nursing course, seems to have led them to adopt a pragmatic approach. However, there are encouraging changes in the valuing of honesty with patients, which reflect in part students' increased maturity and changed social attitudes to healthcare professional paternalism.
Authors: Yves Longtin; Hugo Sax; Lucian L Leape; Susan E Sheridan; Liam Donaldson; Didier Pittet Journal: Mayo Clin Proc Date: 2010-01 Impact factor: 7.616