Moral sensitivity, moral courage, and ethical behaviour among clinical nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing Ethics
• Healthcare Professionalism
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Ethical behavior is vital for nurse-patient relationships and care quality.
• Numerous factors influence nurses' ethical conduct.
• Understanding these influencing factors is crucial for effective nursing practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how moral sensitivity impacts nurses' ethical behavior.
• To examine the mediating role of moral courage in this relationship.
• To provide insights for nursing administrators on fostering ethical conduct.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional quantitative study with 465 clinical nurses in China.
• Utilized validated questionnaires for moral sensitivity, moral courage, and ethical behavior.
• Employed structural equation modeling and bootstrapping for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Positive correlations were found between moral courage, moral sensitivity, and ethical behavior.
• Moral sensitivity positively predicted moral courage.
• Moral courage partially mediated the relationship between moral sensitivity and ethical behavior.

Conclusions:

• Moral courage acts as a partial mediator between moral sensitivity and ethical behavior in nurses.
• Interventions aimed at increasing nurses' moral sensitivity and courage can improve ethical conduct.
• Findings support nursing administrators in developing strategies to enhance ethical practice.