Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2026 Jul 6;21(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s13010-026-00225-2.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Commitment to professional ethical principles is one of the fundamental pillars in improving the quality of nursing care and preserving patients’ human dignity. Given the key role of nurses in direct interaction with patients, examining the extent of adherence to nursing ethics in clinical settings is of great importance. Considering the significance of ethics in nursing practice, this study was conducted to assess the level of adherence to nursing ethical principles among nurses at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez in 2024.
METHODS: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 118 nurses working at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez in 2024, selected through simple random sampling. The data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire and a standard questionnaire assessing nurses’ adherence to professional ethical codes. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27 with descriptive and inferential statistics.
RESULTS: The findings showed that 61.86% of the nurses had a moderate level of ethical performance. The highest adherence to professional ethical codes was observed in the domain of “nurses and professional commitments” (58.79 ± 1.01), while the lowest was in the domain of “nurse and colleague” (8.18 ± 0.95).
CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that the level of adherence to professional ethics among nurses at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Saqqez is mostly moderate. This can be considered a warning sign regarding the quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction. Despite relatively favorable performance in the area of professional commitment, weaknesses in interpersonal communication, especially in the nurse-colleague domain, require special attention. It is therefore recommended that continuous training and retraining programs in professional ethics be developed and implemented to improve nurses’ ethical awareness and skills, enhance interprofessional interactions, and promote ethical-based care.
PMID:42410449 | DOI:10.1186/s13010-026-00225-2
