Ethical Climate in Hospitals Affiliated to Shahid Sadoghi University of Medical Sciences and its relationship with Nurses' Moral Courage

The ethical climate in hospitals can influence nurses' ethical decisions. In other words, in the hospital where the nurse cannot use his moral courage, the patient's rights and interests are gradually ignored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between perception of ethical climate and moral courage of nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Sadoughi University of Yazd in 2019. This was a descriptive-analytical study. A total of 204 nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd were included in the study by census sampling. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire, Professional Moral Courage (PMC), and Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS) and analyzed by SPSS 18 software. The results showed that the mean score of ethical climate (3.35 ± 0.62) of 5 and the mean score of moral courage was 56.37 ± 5.46 out of 75. There was no significant relationship between ethical climate and moral courage (P≥0.05). Of demographic characteristics, gender had a significant relationship with the mean score of ethical climate (<0.05), but other demographic characteristics did not have a significant relationship with ethical climate and moral courage (>0.05). Considering influence of environments supporting nurses’ moral courage on optimal care to patients, development of plans by managers to promote nurses’ moral courage can lead to beneficial effects.