Nursing Students’ Perception of Ethical and Professional Characteristics of an Ideal Faculty Member: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: One of the factors affecting in promoting educational quality is the properties of the faculty members. As consumers, students are stakeholders of educational products of the faculty. Since receiving feedback from customers is one of the substantial steps for promoting service quality, it is necessary to perform a deep examination of the issue to explicate new dimensions of an ideal professor from the perspective of students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe students’ perception of an ideal professor. Methods: In this qualitative study, with a content analysis approach, a number of 20 nursing undergraduates studying in Lorestan University of Medical Sciences were selected through purposive sampling in 2014. Content analysis was performed to analyze the collected data. The rigor of this study was reinforced through dependability and credibility criteria. Results: After data analysis, 450 codes and 5 structural concepts emerged: academic abilities, professional teaching, personal characteristics, role modeling, and nursing ethics. Conclusion: An ideal professor has a variety of characteristics from the viewpoint of nursing students. Accordingly, an ideal professor is a person who besides possessing a distinguished ethical profile, is also an administrator who adequately supports students, is committed to his society and country, and at the same time, and respects professionalism in nursing.