THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORAL INTELLIGENCE AND CLINICAL COMPETENCE OF NURSING STUDENTS IN THE INTERNSHIP COURSE

Clinical competence is one of the main indicators of performance in nursing. Researchers believe that to maintain nursing care standards, it is necessary to recognize the factors associated with the promotion of clinical competence. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between moral intelligence and clinical competence of nursing students in the internship course.

This descriptive correlational study was performed on 125 nursing students in an internship course in selected branches of Islamic Azad Universities of Isfahan province. Participants were selected by purposive sampling. Data collection was done by standard questionnaires of moral intelligence and clinical competency of nursing students. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation test, and multivariate regression in SPSS software version 16.

Most of the participants (91.2%, 114 subjects) were women and were in the age group of 22-25 years (62.4%, 78 subjects). The mean total score of moral intelligence in the participants was 83.46±12.25 and the mean total score of their clinical competence was 193.72±26.36. Pearson correlation test showed a direct and significant relationship between moral intelligence and students' clinical competence (r =0/642, p<0/001). Also, based on the results of multivariate linear regression analysis, students' moral intelligence and grade point average can predict their clinical competency score.

According to the research findings on the relationship between moral intelligence and clinical competence of nursing students, it seems necessary to pay attention to this dimension of intelligence in order to improve students' clinical competence and thus improve the quality of patient care.