Values of the profession

Professional values are “principles and ideals that give meaning to our personal, social and professional life” (Geyer 2013:219). Evident in this study was the participants’ clear expression of the need for role models who portray the values of the profession and to live by them. Felstead (2013:223) stated that a role model is someone who demonstrates a positive example and who portrayed attitudes and values that can be assimilated by students. He also stipulated that professional values must underpin education as well as clinical practice. This view is justified by Houghton’s (2014:2368) comment, that professional socialisation of students in nursing is more than learning and gaining competencies; it is where potential members of the profession learn the values, attitudes and beliefs of the profession. Implicit in the phrases recorded by participants in this study was the importance they bestowed on recognising good values, namely, integrity, autonomy, altruism. Demonstration of clinical competence was also regarded as imperative. Participants related a sense of confusion between professional values learned in the classroom and the Company’s values with which they are confronted and which they are expected to live out in clinical practice. Their expectations included the portrayal of professional values of honesty, self-respect, integrity energy, reliability, empathy, honesty and punctuality by professional nurses. The need for a caring professional nurse to act as a role model and demonstrate to students how to integrate these values in clinical practice is essential. In Taiwan, Feng and Tsai (2012:2068) experienced the same problem of confusion amongst their students where they understood that the professional value in nursing care is patient- orientated but the organisational value in nursing is task-orientated. Participants in this study experienced confusion because while they wanted to deliver quality patient care they felt it was compromised due to the shortage of staff. They experienced a disconnect between their own values and those of the hospitals in which they work. They expressed difficulty in understanding and integrating both sets of values in their new profession. In the study by Feng and Tsai (2012:2068) students experienced a state of ”total overwhelming chaos” and the same feelings were expressed by the

students who participated in this study. They have their own perception of the values of the profession but when reality strikes, they experience disillusion and disappointment. Feng and Tsai (2012:2068) reported that the students’ efforts to make sense of the chaos and to become an insider, didn’t happen overnight but took time, eventually a strategy of “learning by doing” helped the students to transit from the “overwhelming chaos” they experienced to “being an insider” and being part of the team. Participants perceived that with increasing seniority as students gained a better understanding of the processes and politics in hospital units, the easier it was to become part of the team and to play a role in the daily ward routine. However, they expressed the view that the role of the professional nurse role is to induct students into the profession (which includes the nursing team in the unit) with guidance and support and that this should happen from the first day on the unit.

In a study done in Turkey with midwifery students by Özcan, Akpinar and Ergin (2012:402) the professional values prioritised as the most important were justice, equality, human dignity, competence, autonomy and professional loyalty. The same study showed that the values of responsibility and cleanness were also high on the priority list. Similar findings emerged in this study where participants identified the same values as being important in establishing a path to their professional development. Brown et al (2012:609) found the observation of the professional nurse’s role as being a “significant factor in the knowledge and value discovery by students to assist them in the internalisation of the values and norms of the profession and the development of their self-concept and social identity”. Words and phrases recorded by participants such as “a great nurse shows empathy, listen to students without judgment and to value the student as part of the team”, are just some of the value attributes that students expect a professional nurse to portray in assisting them to internalise the knowledge and values of the profession. Participants in this study pleaded for professional nurses to be loyal to them and to stand up for them. In a study done in Turkey the researchers Özcan et al (2012:404) reported professional loyalty as a very important value in the professional role development of students.

Cleary et al (2013:636) stated that professional nurses do not need to be pictured perfect, but they must understand and value their influence in the professional socialisation process of students by engaging in development of professional values,

showed that participants did experience the need to be protected from adaptations of learnings that are made in the unit to save time or for other reasons, short cuts, unreliability, dishonesty and the shifting of responsibilities. Their tablecloth notes expressed their need for being embraced by professional nurses in the clinical environment and for protection from doing things in the wrong way as well as for professional nurses to accept the notion that students can make a valuable contribution to the team.

The internalisation of professional values in the students’ performance can be influenced by nursing education institution’s input if the students’ decision-making process is evaluated through consideration of their practical and behavioural patterns (Parandeh, Khaghanizade, Mohammadi & Nouri 2015:288). Parandeh et al (2015:288) emphasised that students consider trust and care as important dimensions of their professional values. Although knowledge regarding role modeling of values such as integrity, autonomy, altruism, and the importance of clinical competence primarily occurs through the so called “hidden curriculum”, participants were of the view that these values must be portrayed by professional nurses as role models during interactions with students in the classroom and in clinical practice and also with patients and their families, with other healthcare professionals in different situations, as well as members of other professions.