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The Impact of Nurses' Attitudes Toward Ethical Principles on Care Behaviours: A Cross-Sectional Study
Ayşegül Yıldız İçigen1, Sinem Sönmez1
1Health Science School, Department of Nursing, Cappadocia University, Nevşehir, Türkiye.
Aim:
This study aims to determine the impact of nurses' attitudes toward ethical principles on their care behaviours in Turkey.
Design:
This study is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational research.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study was conducted with 390 actively working nurses in Turkey, selected using a known population sampling method. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist for cross-sectional studies was used in reporting this study.
Results:
The nurses' mean age was 29.7 ± 1.26 years, and 87.4% held a bachelor's degree. It was found that 57.4% of the nurses encountered ethical issues in the hospital, while 92.4% did not consult the hospital ethics committee when facing ethical dilemmas. The mean scores on the ethical attitudes and care behaviours scales showed a statistically significant increase with age and education level (p < 0.05). A significant positive correlation was found between nurses' attitudes toward ethical principles and their care behaviours scores (r = 0.639, p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
This study revealed that ethical attitudes and care behaviours are influenced by age and education level and that nurses' attitudes toward ethical principles affect their care behaviours.
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