Determining the Moral Sensitivity of Intensive Care Nurses

Introduction: Intensive care units are defined as clinics that aim to support and cure critically ill patients,have a priority with their allocation in terms of patient care, are equipped with advanced technologydevices, follow patients‟ vital signs for 24 hours and provide a multidisciplinary service. This study wasconducted for examining the moral sensitivity of intensive care nurses in moral decision-making.Method: The sample of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of 84 nurses who worked inintensive care units of university and public hospitals in the province of Malatya between February -March 2015 and accepted to participate in the study. The data were collected using Socio-DemographicData Form and Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire. Statistical analyses of the data were evaluated usingcomputer-aided SPSS program, descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, minimum and maximum values,standard deviation), Anova variance analysis and Student t test.Findings: 70,2% intensive care nurses who were included in the study were in the age group of 18-34,54,8% were married, 91,7% had bachelor s degree and 53,6% had studied ethics. While the total moralsensitivity score of intensive care nurses ranged from minimum 51 to maximum 131; the average scorewas 87,30±17,03. Average scores obtained by intensive care nurses from the lower dimensions of moralsensitivity were as; 18.32±5,84 (autonomy), 11.41±4.40 (benefit), 10,67±2,97 (integrative approach),13,46±4,78 (conflict), 11,05±3,08 (application) and 8,47±3,33 (orientation). It was determined that therewas no difference between the total scores obtained by nurses from moral sensitivity and their educationalbackground, duration of working in intensive care units, the unit where they worked and the state ofstudying ethics before and after graduation (respectively p:0,265, p:0,555, p:0,299 and p:0,439), however,there was a significant difference between the scores of some lower dimensions of moral sensitivityaccording to their age and marital status (respectively p:0,036, p:0,037).Conclusion: It was determined that intensive care nurses had a moderate level of moral sensitivity. Thus,it is recommended to plan and conduct continuous curriculums containing information and personaldevelopment aimed at increasing the moral sensitivity of intensive care nurses. Besides, it is consideredimportant to conduct studies in larger groups for the moral sensitivity of intensive care nurses.

کلیدواژه ها:

Intensive Care Nursing ، Moral Sensitivity