Professional values and empowerment: a role for continuing education.

A commitment to values is increasingly important for professional nurses. For practitioners of nursing, advances in knowledge and technology are raising complicated ethical questions that need a response. The guiding of ethical decision-making is a primary function of a code of ethics such as the Code for Nurses document (1978). Among practitioners of nursing, values identified most frequently are reflected in the first six statements that deal with professional issues. Values inherent in the last five statements, which focus on social issues, such as professional empowerment, are not readily identified. Internalization of the social issue values is critical for the future of nursing.