Relationship between moral intelligence and psychological safety among emergency and intensive care units nurses.

High moral intelligence in nurses is considered a supportive factor against different pressures and is assumed to promote psychological safety. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between moral intelligence and psychological safety of nurses in emergency and intensive care units.

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 255 nurses working in the intensive care unit and emergency department of tertiary hospitals affiliated to Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran. Data collection tools included Lennick and Kiel’s moral intelligence scale and Edmonson’s psychological safety scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16) using descriptive statistics and regression.

The mean scores of moral intelligence and psychological safety were measured at 73.10±8.13 and 26.91±3.35, respectively. The results of regression analysis indicated that among the dimensions of moral intelligence, compassion (β=0.21) and responsibility (β=0.19) had the power to predict nurses’ psychological safety. In doing so,the predictor variables (i.e., compassion and responsibility) could explain 12% of the variance in the response variable (psychological safety).

As evidenced by the obtained results, it can be concluded that moral intelligence as an intrinsic supportive factor can improve nurses’ psychological safety and reduce work-related injury by reinforcing positive psychological factors.