Professional Values, Clinical Decision-Making, and Organizational Commitment among Nurses: Analytic Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Professional values reflect an individual’s belief and loyalty to his/her profession. It has a positive impact on nurses’ practice of patient care. Aim of study: to assess professional values among nurses at Suez-Canal University Hospitals, and to examine its relationships with their decision-making and organizational commitment. Subjects and methods: This analytic cross-sectional study was carried out at Suez Canal University Hospitals. A purposive sampling technique was used (171 nurses). A self- administered questionnaire with scales for nursing Professional Values, Clinical Decision-Making in Nursing and Organizational Commitment was used in collecting data. The fieldwork was from March to May 2019. Results: Nurses’ age 21-55 years, and 91.8% were females. In total, the mean values out of a maximum of 5 for professional values was 3.47, 2.64 for decision-making, and 3.85 for organizational commitment. The scores of professional values and clinical decision-making had a strong positive significant correlation (r=0.865). In multivariate analysis, the professional values score was a positive predictor of the decision-making score. Conclusions: The nurses in the study settings have high professional values and organizational commitment, with lower clinical decision-making skills. Professional values is a positive predictor of decision-making. Recommendations: It is recommended that hospital administration enhances nurses’ abilities in decision-making through staff development programs. A study of the effect of professional values on nurse and patient outcomes is proposed.