Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Professional Values Education in Pediatric Nurses.

In recent years, the rapid advancement of technology in the field of health has led to changes in the needs and expectations of society, and the importance of professional values in the nursing profession, which has an important role for society, has been increasing (Lee et al., 2020; Bijani et al., 2019). Nursing is a discipline that has undergone various changes from past to present, with the main goal of protecting and improving the health of individuals, families and society. The nursing profession, which initially focused only on physical health, has expanded its perspective over the years and has adopted a holistic approach to individuals in terms of physical, spiritual and sociocultural aspects (Göriş et al., 2014). In addition to these, professional responsibilities have increased (Bijani et al., 2019), it has become autonomous and has aimed to improve health as well as prevent diseases (Göriş et al., 2014). Experience has begun to give way to professionalism in nursing (Tüfekçi, 2015). Professional nurses are nurses who follow scientific developments, have high autonomy, and embrace professional and ethical values. In this respect, nurses constitute the evolving role of the profession. Professional values are the basic principles and beliefs that guide professional groups in their own fields of decision-making and practice (Weis \& Schank, 2002). In addition, it is stated that professional values form the basis of nursing practice (Poorchangizi et al., 2019). In the field of pediatric nursing, where different age groups are included, care needs vary to the same extent. Pediatric nurses are responsible for effectively coping with the reactions of children to illness, developmental crises during the illness, and problems caused by the illness according to age groups (Shuck et al., 2013). The acquisition of professional values in this field and their transfer to practice is an important component that contributes to the development of the profession. Children cared for by pediatric nurses cannot make their own decisions. In situations where decisions need to be made, the family must make the decision. This situation sometimes causes ethical dilemmas (Griffin et al., 2021). It should not be forgotten that nurses can solve these ethical dilemmas by resorting to professional values (Poorchangizi et al., 2019). Pediatric nurses provide quality care to their patients with the professional values they have (Poreddi et al., 2021). Nurses who spend the most time with patients and provide primary care experience various emotions due to the nature of their profession. During this care and application process, nurses are expected to show emotions such as empathy, compassion, and interest, while they are expected to avoid negative emotions such as anger and disappointment (Hwang \& Park, 2022). It is stated that nurses' emotions are an important element in their relationships with their patients, and it is emphasized that they will be effective in the recovery process of patients (Lee \& Jang, 2019).In addition to professionalism, pediatric nurses carry a great emotional burden due to their responsibilities such as caring for children with chronic diseases, experiencing ethical dilemmas, and supporting the child and their family (Griffin et al., 2021). Nurses demonstrate emotional labor behavior in order to understand and successfully manage emotions such as pain, suffering, fear, and anxiety felt by children (Öz \& Baykal, 2017; Aydın et al., 2019). Emotional labor is defined as exhibiting an appropriate stance for the situation, regardless of the actual emotion. In other words, it is the energy spent by employees to hide emotions that are inappropriate for the situation and display emotions that are appropriate (Humphrey, 2021; Masracci \& Adams, 2019). Studies have shown that emotional labor negatively affects the health of employees. Musculoskeletal problems, burnout, and depression are the main ones (Ha et al., 2021; Guajardo \& Vasquez, 2018). In addition, pediatric nurses receive comprehensive medical training throughout their education, but they often lack emotional and psychological training.This situation leads to burnout in pediatric nurses (Restrepo \& Pilgrim, 2011; Altan \& Özpehlivan, 2019). Pediatric nurses are pioneers in providing non-traumatic, compassionate care with a family-centered care philosophy. Studies have recommended the development of training programs to strengthen professional values and emotional labor behavior in pediatric nurses (Freitas et al., 2021; Youn and Nouh, 2018). In addition, it is stated that professional values positively affect areas such as job satisfaction (Kootahi et al., 2023; Kaya, 2019), family involvement in care (Demirci, 2019), caring behaviors (Güven, 2021; Bekleviç, 2019; Bulut \& Kızılırmak, 2022; Şanal, 2020), and patient safety (İşeri \& Sarıtaş, 2023). All these concepts constitute the components of professional values. In this context, the purpose of our research is to examine the effect of professional values education on pediatric nurses' perception of professional values, emotional labor behavior and burnout level.