Influence of nursing students empathy on moral courage： the path of moral sensitivity

Abstract

BackgroundNurses' moral courage is a special type of altruistic behavior， which is considered to be a key factor to improve patient safety. Empathy level can positively predict altruistic behavior， and moral sensitivity exerts an obvious mediation role in the positive prediction. At present， there is no relevant research to explore the path role of moral sensitivity in the relationship between empathy and moral courage.ObjectiveTo verify the mediation role of moral sensitivity in the relationship between empathy and moral courage among nursing students， so as to provide references for increasing the moral courage among nursing students.MethodsFrom June 1 to June 30， 2022， a total of 602 nursing students were recruited via convenience sampling from a tertiary grade A hospital in Mianyang， and participants were assessed using Interpersonal Reactivity Index-Chinese （IRI-C）， Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire-Revised Chinese Version （MSQ-R-CV） and Nurses' Moral Courage Scale （NMCS）. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation among above scales. The Process macro plug-in for SPSS was used to test the mediation effect of moral sensitivity on the relationship between empathy and moral courage.ResultsA total of 602 valid questionnaires were collected， with an effective recovery rate of 96.78%. IRI-C score of nursing students was positively correlated with MSQ-R-CV score and NMCS score （r=0.269， 0.146， P<0.01）. MSQ-R-CV score was positively correlated with NMCS score （r=0.722， P<0.01）. The mediation effect model was established with IRI-C score as independent variable， MSQ-R-CV score as intermediary variable， and NMCS score as dependent variable. Analysis showed that the direct effect of empathy on moral courage among nursing students was not significant （direct effect value of -0.052， 95% CI： -0.178~0.008）， while analysis yielded a significant indirect effect of empathy on moral courage via moral sensitivity （indirect effect value of 0.189， 95% CI： 0.209~0.407）.ConclusionThe moral sensitivity of nursing students plays a significant mediation role in the relationship between empathy and moral courage. ［Funded by 2022 Higher Education Teaching Research and Reform Project of Southwest Medical University （number， JG2022239）］

Keywords

• nursing students
• empathy
• moral courage
• moral sensitivity
• mediation analysis