Profile of professional values according to the perspective of nursing students

Objective: To analyze professional values from the perspective of nursing students. Methodology: A quantitative approach with a descriptive, field and cross-sectional scope was used. The population consisted of 210 seventh semester and rotating internship students of the Nursing Career of the Technical University of Ambato, Ecuador, with a sample of 144 students. The students who received the bioethics course and had experience in hospital internships were selected, and students who were absent at the time of applying the survey and those who did not want to fill out the form were excluded. The nursing values scale was applied, which consists of 3 dimensions: ethical dimension, commitment dimension and mastery dimension. Results: 84% of the population studied was 18-25 years old, with a predominance of 81.9% of the female sex. With respect to the ethical dimension, 47.9% of the students consider it very important to practice the profession taking into account principles of fidelity and respect for the person; of the commitment dimension, 50% initiate actions for the improvement of the professional practice environment; and of the mastery dimension, 50% perceive as important to be involved in a process of continuous self-evaluation. Conclusion: The students' perception of professional values was largely positive with responses of “very important” and “important” in all dimensions (ethics, commitment and mastery), implying that their professional profile is centered on professional values.