J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs.  2018 Sep;27(3):199-207. 10.12934/jkpmhn.2018.27.3.199.

Factors associated with Nurses' Moral Sensitivity

• Eom S
• Kim SS

• KMID: 2422592
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2018.27.3.199

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purposes of this study were to examine the associations among moral reasoning, empathy, communication self-efficacy, and moral sensitivity and to determine predictors of nurses' moral sensitivity.
METHODS
Data were collected from 194 nurses in the Republic of Korea. Structured questionnaires consisted of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, Defining Issues Test, Jefferson Scale of Empathy, and Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory. The collected data were analyzed using t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis using SPSS ver. 21.
RESULTS
Nurses' moral sensitivities were significantly associated with frequency of ethical education, empathy, and communication self-efficacy. In hierarchical multiple regression models, the significant factors of nurses' moral sensitivity were age (β=.21, p=.044), the frequency of experience in ethics education (β=.18, p=.007), empathy (β=.32, p < .001), and communication self-efficacy (β=.25, p=.001), which explained 33.2% of the variance in nurses' moral sensitivity.
CONCLUSION
Our study findings show that nurses' moral sensitivity could be enhanced by more frequent ethics education programs. In addition, nursing ethics education might be developed to include potential strategies to improve empathy and self-efficacy in communication for high levels of moral sensitivity in nurses.

Keyword

Moral development; Morals; Empathy; Communication; Nurses

MeSH Terms

Counseling
Education
Empathy
Ethics
Ethics, Nursing
Moral Development
Morals
Republic of Korea

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