Development and validation of a self-report inventory for professional nursing values

Moral beliefs and values form a basis for ethical nursing practice. The interlocking of personal and professional values directly influences nurses' decisions and actions. The need for a measuring instrument to assess development of professional values in nursing is addressed through construction and validation of a self-report inventory: Ochsner's Inventory of Professional Nursing Values (IPNV).

A national study was conducted in order to validate the IPNV. Subjects were drawn from a random cluster sampling of 89 National League for Nursing (NLN) accredited baccalaureate nursing programs representing 47 states plus Washington, D.C. From 875 inventories distributed to fulltime nursing educators, 413 usable responses were returned (47.2%). Demographic data confirmed all respondents as "nurse educator experts."