More Ethical, More Professional? The Relationship Between Ethical and Professional Attitudes in Nursing

To examine the relationship between nurses' ethical and professional attitudes, to compare ethical attitude scores according to gender, educational level, and professional experience, and to examine the association between ethical and professional attitudes after accounting for age, professional experience, and weekly working hours.

Ethical and professional attitudes are fundamental to nursing practice and influence nurses' decision-making, responsibilities, and relationships with patients and healthcare teams. Understanding how these attitudes are related may inform strategies to strengthen nursing practice.

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working in public hospitals.

Nurses working in two public hospitals in Bursa, Turkey, were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were collected using a sociodemographic information form and validated instruments assessing ethical and professional attitudes. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed to examine relationships between ethical and professional attitudes and demographic and work-related characteristics.

Ethical and professional attitudes were positively associated, although the strength of the relationship was modest (r_s = 0.284, p < .001). The overall multiple regression model was not statistically significant (F(4, 151) = 1.715, p = .150) and explained only 4.3% of the variance in professional attitude scores (R² = .043). Within this nonsignificant model, the coefficient for ethical attitude was statistically significant (β = .183, p = .024) and should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Ethical attitude scores did not differ significantly according to gender, educational level, or professional experience.

Nurses' ethical and professional attitudes were positively but modestly associated. However, the multivariable model was not statistically significant and explained only a small proportion of the variance in professional attitude scores; therefore, the statistically significant coefficient observed for ethical attitude within this model should be interpreted cautiously. Nursing education and institutional policies should support ethics education and professional development.

The observed modest association highlights the relevance of considering ethical and professional attitudes together in nursing education and professional development. Further research is needed to determine whether educational or professional-development interventions can strengthen these attitudes.

The findings may inform consideration of ethical and professional attitudes in organizational and workforce-development initiatives; however, the present study does not provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of specific institutional policies or interventions.