Development of a Values Assessment Instrument for Nursing Students

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable tool to assess nursing students\u27 values in the areas of 1) abortion and birth control; 2) care of the terminally ill; and 3) mental illness. Rokeach\u27s Theory of Organization and Change Within Value- Attitude Systems served as the theoretical framework for the study. The instrument was developed by the researcher through a review of the literature, review of other instruments, and the researcher\u27s experiences. The method of scaling the questionnaire was a six point Likert-type scale. Junior level nursing students at a private midwestern college Were used to test the instrument for reliability. Program TESTAT which gives group data, subscale and overall reliability coefficients was used to establish reliability. A t-test was also done. The instrument was reviewed for content validity by a panel of experts. Based on satisfactory alpha reliabilities on each subscale as well as the overall tool, and high agreement on content validity, the researcher concluded the instrument was valid and reliable