Aims and objectives: To explore the relationship between Saudi nurses' professional values and competence.
Background: Professionals are bound by ethical standards specific to their profession. Accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant event that has impacted nurses' professional values and competency.
Design: A descriptive cross-sectional design adhering to STROBE guidelines.
Methods: Clinical nurses from four tertiary government hospitals (n = 659) participated and completed two self-report instruments. Study variables were analysed using the structural equation modelling approach.
Results: The emerging model displayed acceptable model fit indices. Professionalism and activism were two dimensions of nurse professional values that significantly impacted professional competency. Professionalism significantly impacted the four other aspects of nurse professional values: caring, activism, trust, and justice. Caring had a significant and direct impact on activism. Activism had a weak, direct effect on trust, whereas justice had a moderate, direct effect on trust. Through the mediation of the dimension of activism, both the dimensions of professionalism and caring had a strong, indirect impact on professional competency.
Conclusions: This research presents a structural model of the interrelationship between nurse professional values and competency. Nurse administrators can use the proposed model to develop approaches and policies for assessing, improving and evaluating professional values among nurses.
Relevance for clinical practice: Nursing professionals are committed to upholding their ethical and moral standards while performing their caregiver roles. Nurse administrators can implement activities and strategies to develop nurses' professional competence further, as professional values represent the ideal values expected of nurses providing patient care.
Keywords: competency; nurses; nursing ethics; profession; professional values.
© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.