Comparison of Moral Sensitivity among last year Nursing Students and Nurses Working at teaching Hospitals of Islamic Azad University of Mashhad

Abstract

Introduction:Moral sensitivity is a combination of one's awareness of dimensions such as being responsible and attention to ethical issues that are necessary for ethical action. Enhancing experience alone does not increase moral sensitivity; instead it should be accompanied by learning and knowledge development. On the other hand, considering the impact of the educational environment and the hidden curriculum on the development of professional features of medical students, we aimed to compare the ethical sensitivity of nurses working at teaching hospitals and nursing students. Method and Materials:In this cross-sectional study, 82 senior nursing students in undergraduate level and 123 nurses working in teaching hospitals were involved after obtaining informed consent. To collect data, Luetzen's moral sensitivity questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software. Results:123 nurses with mean age of (35.02±6.44) and 82 nursing students with mean age of (20.88±0.80) completed the questionnaire. The mean score of moral sensitivity of nursing students and professional nurses was 61.74 ± 9.74 and 62.41 ± 8.77, respectively, and there was no significant difference between them (P=0.416). The mean score of moral sensitivity with demographic characteristics was not significantly correlated. Conclusion:Most nurses and students were at moderate moral sensitivity. Considering the interplay of nurses' ethical approaches to quality of care services and their role modeling of students, strengthening this issue through retraining nurses and quality supervision on nurses' professional practices and emphasizing this issue in nursing students' education should be considered.

Moral awareness and its relationship with moral sensitivity among Iranian nursing students: A basis for nursing ethics education

“…Similarly, Mohamadi et al (2017) found no significant correlation between variables of age, sex and marital status and moral awareness in nurses (Mohamadi et al, 2017). Kohansal and Faraj pour et al also reported similar results between moral sensitivity of nursing students and the variables of age, sex and marital status, which is consistent with this study (Kohansal et al, 2018; Mostafavian et al, 2019).…”

Moral sensitivity of nursing students: a systematic review

“…A morally sensitive student discusses ethical-legal issues with others [ 27 ] and cares about ethical issues [ 39 ]. According to Shayesteh Fard et al (2020), this is a cognitive-critical process [ 10 ].…”

“…Knowing the moral dimensions of a situation and distinguishing it from another problem requires moral knowledge [ 40 ]. Professional [ 39 ] and moral knowledge [ 6 ] are necessary to acquire moral sensitivity.…”

“…Explanation of presence in professional-educational settings: Nursing students can develop their moral sensitivity by being present in the educational environment [ 41 ]. Presence in the professional and clinical environment [ 39 ] paves the way for developing the concept of moral sensitivity among nursing students. According to Karimi et al (2016), a clinical setting is effective in moral sensitivity [ 41 ].…”

The Relationship between Moral Sensitivity and Professional Behaviour and Its Comparison in First- and Last-Year Undergraduate Nursing Students

“…The results of the present study showed that women students attained significantly higher total scores of moral sensitivity and professional behaviour compared to men. In previous studies, different results were presented on the effect of gender on the level of moral sensitivity [ 14 , 15 , 33 – 35 ]. In some other studies, the level of moral sensitivity of female nursing students was higher than that of males [ 33 , 34 ].…”