title: Values in nursing students and professionals: An exploratory comparative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many studies have explored personal values in nursing, but none has assessed whether the predictions made by the theory of intergenerational value change are true for the different generations of nursing professionals and students. This theory predicts a shift in those personal values held by younger generations towards ones focussed on self-expression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to identify intergenerational differences in personal values among nursing professionals and nursing students and to determine whether generational value profiles fit the predictions made by the theory.
  
  
  METHODS
  An exploratory comparative design with a cross-sectional survey method was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited from four public hospitals and 10 Primary Care Centres in medium-size cities in Spain. A sample of 589 nurses and 2295 nursing students participated in the study. An open survey method was used to collect data that were classified grouping reported values into categories following a method of value lexicon construction and analysed by contingency tables with Pearson's χ (2) and standardized residuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Approval to conduct the study was obtained from the Deans of the nursing schools and the Directors of Nursing of the institutions. Anonymity was guaranteed, participation was voluntary and participants were informed of the purpose of the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results can be synthesized in two age-related trends in the reporting of values among three groups of participants. First, among younger nurses and students, some nursing core values (e.g. ethical and professional) decreased in importance, while other values centred on social relationships and personal well-being increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows intergenerational change in personal values among both nursing students and young nursing professionals. Findings suggest the need to pay more attention to value training and professional socialization during the schooling period.
authors.affiliation: University of Almeria, SpainUniversity of Oviedo, SpainCity University of New York, USA rjimenez@ual.es.
authors.forename: F Rosa
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Jiménez-López
authors.affiliation: University of Almeria, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesus Gil
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Roales-Nieto
authors.affiliation: University of Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Guillermo Vallejo
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Seco
authors.affiliation: City University of New York, USA.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Preciado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012579:Schools, Nursing; D012945:Social Values; D013030:Spain; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Intergenerational change; nursing core values; nursing professionals; nursing students; personal values