سطح تكامل اخلاقي دانشجويان پرستاري دانشگاه علوم پزشكي تبريز

Level of Ethical Development in Nursing Students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Background & Objectives: The situations that nurses encounter in their work environment are multiple which require ethical decision-making. Therefore, during the period of their education nursing students should reach to a certain level of moral development. Regarding ethical development studies ever conducted in Iran are limited. This study aims to determine the level of nursing studentsʹ ethical development. Materials & Methods: This descriptive correlation study was conducted in Tabriz, 2010. The study sample consisted of 115 third and fourth year nursing students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences who were selected by census method. The instrument used in it was nursing dilemma test (NDT) questionnaire which was based on Kohlberg theory of ethical development. The questionnaire consisted of six scenarios in which the level of ethical development was determined regarding the studentsʹ answers to the scenarios. Nursing principled thinking (NP) score, i.e. sum of fifth and sixth stages of Kohlberg ethical development, was calculated too, ranged from 18 to 66. The other indicator was practical consideration (PC) score which examines the administrative rules in ethical decision-making, ranged from 6 to 36. The data was analyzed by using SPSS statistical software and descriptive and inferential statistic analysis methods. Results: Study data showed that 13 students (11/3%) were in second level, 8 students (7%) were in third level, 25 students (21/7%) were in 5 and 6 levels of ethical development and 14 of them (12/1%) were in PC level. This study also showed that mean NP score of student was 48/9±6/5 and mean PC score was 20/0±4/4. No significant relation was found between demographic profile and studentsʹ ethical development. Conclusion: The results showed that a significant number of participated students were still at lower levels of moral development although about half of them were at NP level. These findings indicate the need for more attention to the moral education of nursing students by nursing education authorities.