The relation between Psychological Capital and Professional Ethics among Nurses: mediating role of Defense Mechanisms

The present study aimed to determine the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics with the mediating role of defense mechanisms in nurses.

The methodology was descriptive-correlational. The population was 1237 nurses in Hamedan hospitals. Two hundred thirty-four nurses were randomly selected and responded to Cadozier's questionnaire (2002) about Professional Ethics, Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans et al., 2007), and Defense Style Questionnaire (Andrews. Singh, & Bond, 1993). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression.

There is a positive and significant relationship between psychological capital (hopeful, optimistic, self-efficacy, license) and professional ethics (P<0.01). The hierarchy regression results also show that mature, immature, and neurotic defense mechanisms significantly affect the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics (P 0.01).

The defense mechanisms indirectly affect the relationship between psychological capital and professional ethics. The categories of hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy should be considered to promote nurses' professional ethics, and nurses should be encouraged to use the defense mechanism of maturity through counseling and training.