An investigation of X and Y generation nurses ethical values

Abstract

Objective: In addition to medical practices and treatment process, nursing care and compliance of nurses with ethical values are of vital importance for health. For this reason, nursing practices and ethics have been mentioned in many studies. On the other hand, there are not enough studies on the effect of changing generations and their common characteristics on the ethical values of nurses. Therefore, it was aimed to investigate the difference between the levels of susceptibility of nurses in different generations to ethical values. Material and Method: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, the level of susceptibility of the nurses to the ethical values was measured by the “Inclinatıon to Ethıcal Values”. The scale consists of 16 items and three dimensions (Love-Respect, Justice-Honesty, and Cooperation). The sample of the study was comprised of 122 nurses from the generation X and 115 nursing students from generation Y in public hospitals in Istanbul. Results: While 81.1 % of the participants in the X-generation were female, 46.1 % of the participants in the Y generation were male, and the male gender was statistically significant (p =.003, p <.005). Education was low in both groups. All dimensions and total score of susceptibility to ethical values are higher in the X generation participants; the difference between total ethical values, propensity score, love–respect dimension, and cooperation dimension were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the study, nurses in generation X are more ınclinatıon to the ethical values including love–respect and cooperation than nurses in generation Y. On the other hand, justice and honesty are common values of both generations. In the trainings to be given, it can be stated that it would be beneficial to focus on love–respect and cooperation issues. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 2019. All rights reserved.