Moral competence and conflict management styles in emergency nurses: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to evaluate the moral competence and conflict management styles in emergency nurses.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among emergency department nurses. Convenience sampling was employed. The data collection tools comprised a demographic-occupational questionnaire, a questionnaire assessing the moral competence of clinical nurses, and another questionnaire focused on exploring conflict management styles.

A total of 190 emergency department nurses were involved in this study. The study revealed that emergency department nurses' average moral competence score was 159.81 (standard deviation, SD = 13.00), ranging from 121 to 184 points. Among emergency department nurses, the average score for conflict management styles stood at 105.61 (SD = 10.67), ranging from 41 to 132 points. The study findings revealed statistically significant associations between several factors and nurses' overall moral competence score; age group (P = 0.004) and type of employment (P = 0.035) showed substantial relationships. Significant associations emerged between the overall conflict management score, job position (P = 0.021), and age group (P = 0.044).

Emergency nurses demonstrated a commendable average score in moral competence and predominantly utilized conflict management styles over participation styles when handling conflicts. A robust and direct correlation between moral competence and conflict management was also observed.