Essentials of Nursing Leadership and Management, 5th Edition

42 unit 1 | Professional Considerations

one begins to realize how others develop their
values. Raths, Harmin, and Simon (1979) suggest-
ed using a three-step model of choosing, prizing,
and acting, with seven substeps, to identify one’s
own values (Box 4-1).
You may have used this method when making
the decision to go to nursing school. For some peo-
ple, nursing is a first career; for others, it is a second
career. Using the model in Box 4-1, the valuing
process is analyzed:

1.Choosing.After researching alternative career
options, you freely chose nursing school. This
choice was most likely influenced by such fac-
tors as educational achievement and abilities,
finances, support and encouragement from oth-
ers, time, and feelings about people.
2.Prizing.Once the choice was made, you were
satisfied with it and told your friends about it.
3.Acting.Youhave entered school and begun the
journey to your new career. Later in your career,
you may decide to return to school for a bache-
lor’s or master’s degree in nursing.

As you progressed through school, you probably
started to develop a new set of values—your profes-
sional values. Professional values are those established
as being important in your practice. These values
include caring, quality of care, and ethical behaviors.

Belief Systems

Belief systems are an organized way of thinking
about why people exist in the universe. The purpose
of belief systems is to explain such issues as life and

death, good and evil, and health and illness. Usually

these systems include an ethical code that specifies

appropriate behavior. People may have a personal

belief system, may participate in a religion that pro-

vides such a system, or both.

Members of primitive societies worshiped

events in nature. Unable to understand the science

of weather, for example, early civilizations believed

these events to be under the control of someone or

something that needed to be appeased, and they

developed rituals and ceremonies to appease these

unknown entities. They called these entities gods

and believed that certain behaviors either pleased

or angered the gods. Because these societies associ-

ated certain behaviors with specific outcomes,

they created a belief system that enabled them to

function as a group.

As higher civilizations evolved, belief systems

became more complex. Archeology has provided

evidence of the religious practices of ancient civi-

lizations (Wack, 1992). The Aztec, Mayan, Incan,

and Polynesian cultures each had a religious belief

system comprised of many gods and goddesses for

the same functions. The Greek, Roman, Egyptian,

and Scandinavian societies believed in a hierarchy

of gods and goddesses. Although given different

names by different cultures, it is very interesting

that most of the deities had similar purposes. For

example, Zeus was the Greek king of the gods, and

Thor was the Norse god of thunder. Both used a

thunderbolt as their symbol. Sociologists believe

that these religions developed to explain what was

then unexplainable. Human beings have a deep

need to create order from chaos and to have logical

explanations for events. Religion explains theolog-

ically what objective science cannot.

Along with the creation of rites and rituals, reli-

gions also developed codes of behaviors, or ethical

codes. These codes contribute to the social order.

There are rules regarding how to treat family mem-

bers, neighbors, the young, and the old. Many

religions also developed rules regarding marriage,

sexual practices, business practices, property owner-

ship, and inheritance.

The advancement of science certainly has not

made belief systems any less important. In fact, the

technology explosion has created an even greater

need for these systems. Technological advances

often place people in situations that justify religious

convictions rather than oppose them. Many reli-

gions, particularly Christianity, focus on the will of

box 4-1

Values Clarification

Choosing

1.Choosing freely

2.Choosing from alternatives

3.Deciding after giving consideration to the consequences

of each alternative

Prizing

4.Being satisfied about the choice

5.Being willing to declare the choice to others

Acting

6.Making the choice a part of one’s worldview and

incorporating it into behavior

7.Repeating the choice

Adapted from Raths, L.E., Harmon, M., & Simmons, S.B. (1979). Values and

Teaching.New York: Charles E. Merrill.