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

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, Nurse Decision-Making 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 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.