Professional values and nursing self-efficacy in the Italian context. Correlational descriptive study

Introduction: Nurses’ professional values (NPVs) and self-efficacy (SE) are two fundamental elements in nursing care that influence its professional identity, competences, resulting in changing the behaviour of professionals and their response to the patient's health needs. The various studies produced so far have not investigated a possible relationship between these two areas. Therefore, the objective of the following study is to identify and deepen the relationship between NPV and SE, in order to improve the knowledge of these issues. Materials and methods: An observational, correlational and multicentric study has been carried out through a questionnaire based survey. The sampling was conventional. The data collection took place through Nursing Professional Values Scale, version 3 (NPVS-3), which investigates professional values; and Nursing Professional Self-Efficacy Scale (NPSES), which investigates self-efficacy and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results: The total sample was 532 nurses and 65.6% was female, with a median age of 42 years and a median of 15 working years. Positive statistically significant correlations between the various domains of the NPVS-3 and NPSES scales were found. These relationships also emerged in the analyses between geographical areas. Overall, the relationships between self-efficacy and values were similar in all the analyses. Discussion: As the professional values of nurses increase in their response to the patient's health needs, self-efficacy perceived by them increases and vice versa, significantly effecting the clinic and care outcomes of the patients and improving nursing outcomes. The stratification of the sample by geographical area regarding the relationship between age, years of work and professional values indicated that these variables strongly influence the NPV and SE of nurses. Therefore, in some contexts, more support in maintaining a stable value structure may be needed; moreover, it is necessary to incentivise nurses with more effective interventions, as an example and a basis of motivation for future generations.