Aims This study aimed to investigate barriers in the observation of professional ethics during clinical care from a nursing viewpoint. Also, it examined the association between these barriers and nurse demographic variables. Methods A descriptive-analytic design was carried out on 207 nurses working in selected hospitals within an urban area of Iran in 2019. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire containing 33 questions that measured barriers to observation of professional ethics. The questionnaire measures three domains of management, environment and individual care. Results In the management dimension, the most important barrier preventing observation of professional ethics was the shortage of personnel. For the environmental dimension, biological changes due to working on the nightshift, and for the individual care dimension, a lack of time were the most important barriers preventing observation of clinical ethics. Findings additionally highlighted a significantly inverse association between barriers to observing professional ethics and the male gender, participating in the ethics workshop and high work-level experiences. Conclusions It is suggested that nursing managers in hospitals correct and remove obstacles with careful planning and emphasis on principles and standards of care including environmental and managerial factors and training professional ethics to nurses.

Role modeling is one of the most influential components of teaching professional behaviors to nursing students. The Role Model Apperception Tool (RoMAT) was designed in the Netherlands to measure role modeling behaviors in clinical educators. The aim of this study was assess the psychometrics of the Persian version of this tool. In a methodological study, the Persian version of the RoMAT tool was developed using the forward-backward translation method. Face validity was confirmed through cognitive interviews, and content validity was done by a panel of 12 experts. Construct validity was assessed through exploratory factor analysis (n = 200), and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 142) was evaluated after the tool was completed online by undergraduate nursing students. Reliability was confirmed using internal consistency and test and retest methods. Furthermore, ceiling and floor effects were assessed. The two components of "professional competencies" and "leadership competencies" emerged with a cumulative variance of 62.01%, a reliability with Cronbach's alpha of 0.93 and 0.83, and an intraclass correlation of 0.9 and 0.78, respectively. It was concluded that the Persian version of the Role Model Apperception Tool is a valid and reliable tool and can be used to investigate the role modeling behaviors of clinical instructors of nursing students.