Nurses' perception of the ethical climate in the Iranian hospital environment

authors:

avatar Vida Shafipour ORCID 1 , avatar Mahbobeh Yaghobian 2 , avatar Leila Shafipour 3 , avatar Mohammad Reza Heidari ORCID 4 , *

Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Nasibeh Nursing & Midwifery Faculty, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Department of Management Nursing, Nasibeh Nursing & Midwifery Faculty, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Department of Emergency Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Department of Nursing, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

how to cite: Shafipour V, Yaghobian M, Shafipour L, Heidari M R . Nurses' perception of the ethical climate in the Iranian hospital environment. J Nurs Midwifery Sci. 2016;3(4):e141217. https://doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.jnms.3.4.37.

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Ethical climate is hinged upon organizational culture, rules, and policies; nurses’ perception of this concept varies
according to the ward they are working on and the new rules of the treatment system. This can exert adverse impact on their care method and
performance. Thus, this study aimed to determine nurses’ perceptions of the ethical climate governing the hospital environment.
Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 168 nurses working in a teaching hospital. The data were collected
through census method, using a demographic form and Olson’s Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS). For data analysis, descriptive
(percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent t-test and ANOVA for the establishment of
the relationship between ethical climate and demographic factors, as well as Friedman’s test for ranking the factor) were used.
Results: Mean ethical climate scores of nurses for managers, hospital, physicians, patients, and colleagues factors were 3.87±0.71,
3.39±0.68, 3.00±0.67, 3.68±0.57, and 3.82±0.54, respectively. The total mean score of ethical climate was 3.5±0.51. The comparison
among the mentioned factors indicated that managers (P=0.000) factor acquired the highest score. In addition, organizational ethical
climate did not show any significant association with gender, marital status, education level, working shift, and employment status,
whereas there was a statistically significant relationship between job title and income (P=0.000).
Conclusion: The highest score of ethical climate belonged to managers/ factor, while the minimum score was related to physicians. Regarding
the role of ethical climate in the improvement of nurses’ performance, planning for enhancing the ethical climate seems to be mandatory.

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