Missed nursing care and its relationship with nurses' moral sensitivity: a descriptive-analytical study

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Quality
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Missed nursing care is a critical indicator of healthcare quality, potentially compromising patient safety and leading to adverse events.
• Moral sensitivity, the ability of nurses to interpret and respond to patient needs ethically, is crucial for quality care.
• The relationship between nurses' moral sensitivity and missed nursing care requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between nurses' moral sensitivity and missed nursing care.
• To explore the extent of missed nursing care in medical and surgical departments.
• To understand the role of moral sensitivity in the context of missed nursing care.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 202 nurses from medical and surgical departments.
• Stratified random sampling was employed for participant selection.
• Data collected using demographic questionnaires, Kalisch's missed care questionnaire, and Lutzen's moral sensitivity questionnaire, analyzed with Pearson correlation and linear regression.

Main Results:

• Most nurses (52.97%) exhibited moderate moral sensitivity.
• No significant correlation was found between moral sensitivity scores and total missed care scores (r=0.041, p=0.152).
• Regression analysis indicated that moral sensitivity, age, rotating shifts, income, work experience, and work hours significantly influenced missed care (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Nurses reported moderate moral sensitivity and a concerning level of missed nursing care.
• Missed nursing care poses risks to patient safety, necessitating prompt attention from nursing management.
• While direct correlation was not found, moral sensitivity and other factors play a role in missed care, highlighting areas for intervention.