This article considers the development of nurse-led services as a part of a pilot study and explores the therapeutic nature of the role of the nurse. In particular it suggests a need for reconsideration of the fundamental values of nurse-led care in the context of changing organizational culture. Within the UK there has been pressure from policy makers to extend the role of the specialist nurse and create new nursing roles, shifting the boundaries between professional health groups. The philosophy of (...) nurse-led initiatives has therefore been driven mainly from a service redesign and clinical need standpoint rather than necessarily focusing on enhancing patients’ experience and the changes in organizational culture required to achieve this. While several studies have focused on the safety, comparative cost and comparative patient outcomes in nurse-led care in relation to traditional or doctor-led care, little attention has been given to the changing organizational values underlying the nursing role. Exploring this context is essential if new nursing roles are to provide more than relief for bottlenecks in the system and also meet their potential for providing patient centred and innovative models of care. (shrink)

Effective interprofessional collaboration depends upon establishing understanding that respects differences in values and beliefs, and thus differences in response to the multiplicity of patient/client/user needs. To facilitate the latter, this article suggests that health and social care students need a formal knowledge of the meaning of values and the varieties of systems within which values are expressed. Students need especially to understand the genesis of their own professional value system and to recognize the gap that inevitably develops between the values (...) of the professional and those of the society within which a professional may function. The conceptual framework that underpins the approach to teaching values to health and social care professionals advocated here is derived from key concepts identified from the literature relating to education for, and participation in, a democratic, multicultural, multifaith society. These are: tolerance, compromise and education for dialogue. Finally, it is suggested that professional educators must take seriously the tasks of educating for professional pluralism. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to measure professional and personal values among nurses, and to identify the factors affecting these values. The participants were 323 Israeli nurses, who were asked about 36 personal values and 20 professional values. The three fundamental professional nursing values of human dignity, equality among patients, and prevention of suffering, were rated first. The top 10 rated values all concerned nurses' responsibility towards patients. Altruism and confidentiality were not highly rated, and health promotion and nursing (...) research were rated among the last three professional values. For personal (instrumental) values, honesty, responsibility and intelligence were rated first, while ambition and imagination were rated 14th and 16th respectively out of 18. Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found among some personal and professional values rated as functions of culture, education, professional seniority, position and field of expertise. The results may assist in understanding the motives of nurses with different characteristics and help to promote their work according to professional ethical values. (shrink)

The research described in this article was a descriptive study for determining the relationship between the degree of burnout experienced by nurses working in Kocaeli (Turkey), and their personal and professional values. A questionnaire was developed by using information gained from the literature on this subject and from the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The questionnaire was delivered to nurses working in two different hospitals (State Hospital of I.zmit and the Gölçük Sea Hospital) in Kocaeli. The sample group was formed from all (...) nurses working in the two hospitals, of whom 160 participated in the study during December 1999 and January 2000. The results showed that nurses’ personal and professional values play an important role in the degree of burnout they experience. Equality, altruism and aesthetics were ranked first by those experiencing high levels of emotional exhaustion, and freedom was a priority value for those with a low degree of emotional exhaustion. Freedom, altruism and truth were ranked first by those with prominent feelings of personal accomplishment, and equality and aesthetics were priority values for those with less feeling of personal accomplishment. All nurses, therefore, need to identify and clarify their own personal values, beliefs and assumptions about basic truths. (shrink)

This article is part of a wider study entitled Value of Nursing, and contains the literature search from electronic databases. Key words for the search included `values of nursing', `values in nursing', `organisational values' and `professional identity'. Thirty-two primary reports published in English between 2000 and 2006 were identified. The findings highlight the importance of understanding values and their relevance in nursing and how values are constructed. The value of nursing is seen to be influenced by cultural change, globalization, and (...) advancement in technology and medicine. These factors are crucial in providing a more structured and measured view of what nursing is, which will result in greater job satisfaction among nurses, better nurse retention and enhanced patient care within a supportive and harmonious organization. The findings of this review have implications for policy makers in recruitment and retention in determining the global value of nursing. (shrink)