Investigation of ethical reasoning and related factors in nursing students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2020

One of the essential skills for nurses is moral reasoning that students need to acquire this skill properly during their studies. This study was conducted to evaluate the ethical reasoning and related factors in nursing students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2020.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 200 nursing students of the school of nursing and midwifery of Hamadan University of medical sciences in 2020-2021 were selected by stratified random sampling. To collect data, was used Kohlberg ethical reasoning test, which includes 6 scenario (a) newborn with anomalies; (b) forcing medication; (c) adults’ requests to die; (d) orientation of a new nurse; (e) medication errors and (f) terminally ill adults.  Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient with SPSS24 software.

The mean age of students was 23±2.5; 60% were male, 93% were single, 61.0% were living in dormitories. The mean score of students nursing principled thinking was 43.0 ± 6.6 and the mean score of students’ practical consideration was19.0 ± 4.3. 56% were familiar with similar ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. A positive and significant correlation was observed between academic terms and moral reasoning (P = 0.016, r = 0.17).

In general, the results showed that the mean score of ethical reasoning of nursing students is not at the desired level and ethical considerations are at the average level. Therefore, it requires special attention of nursing education planners.