Moral sensitivity of nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences

Moral sensitivity as the foundation of ethics in nursing creates a context in which nurses can provide effective and ethical care for their patients. This study aimed to investigate the moral sensitivity of nurses and its relationship with some of their demographic characteristics.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 on 350 nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences, using the stratified random sampling method. Data were collected using the moral sensitivity questionnaire and were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics such as independent-sample T-Test, pearson correlation and ANOVA at the significance level of 0.05.

The average moral sensitivity of nurses (68.12±6.08) was moderate. The highest score was in the dimension of "awareness of interpersonal communication" and the lowest score was in the dimension of "experience of moral problems and conflicts". The total score of moral sensitivity and the dimensions of "knowledge of interpersonal communication" and "expression of benevolence" showed a positive and significant relationship with age, nurseschr('39') work experience and history of participating in workshops related to ethics.

The results of the present study showed that the moral sensitivity of nurses is moderate. Also, participating in ethics workshops is effective on the level of moral sensitivity. Therefore, it is suggested that holding workshops related to moral sensitivity be given more attention, especially for novice nurses.