Evaluation of Nurses' Job Performance Based on Ethical Sensitivity and Dysfunctional Professional thoughts in Tehran Selected Military Hospitals

Lack of moral sensitivity and the existence of dysfunctional professional thoughts in emergency department nurses are important. Because wrong decisions cause irreparable damage to the patient.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the job performance of nurses in the emergency department of selected military hospitals in Tehran based on the variables of moral sensitivity and dysfunctional professional thoughts.

A descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2020. The target population was nurses working in the emergency departments of selected military hospitals in Tehran. The sample size was 152 people. Sampling was done by stratified random sampling. Data collection tools included demographic and occupational characteristics form, Lutzen Ethical Sensitivity, Patterson Job Performance and Inefficient Professional Ethics Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and frequency percentage) and tests such as a t-test with a significance level of P <0.05 by SPSS software.

The majority of study participants were women (60.5%). Most nurses had high moral sensitivity (51.3%). The mean job performance of nurses was 26.54±9.53. The mean total score of nurses' dysfunctional thoughts was 61.1±12.51. In addition, the mean total score of moral sensitivity in the present study was 70.84 ± 15.09. Between different hospitals, there was a significant difference in the total score scores of dysfunctional thoughts and sub-dimensions of confusion and inability to make decisions, impossible expectations, importance to others and perfectionism. There was no significant difference between moral sensitivity and dysfunctional professional thoughts among selected hospitals. Nurses had relatively high moral sensitivity (51.3%) and high job performance (73%). Regression results showed that moral sensitivity can predict about 32% of changes in job performance variables.

Due to the high level of moral sensitivity among nurses, their job performance was at a high level and they were not influenced by dysfunctional professional thoughts. This study also showed that moral sensitivity is able to predict changes in nurses' job performance significantly.