Predicting moral intelligence in nursing students and its relationships with self-compassion, and cultural competence: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background In the recent era, nursing needs employees with moral intelligence, cultural competence, and self-compassion skills more than ever. This study aimed to determine the predictors of moral intelligence and its relationship with self-compassion and cultural competence in nursing students. Methods This cross-sectional and multi-center descriptive study was conducted in 2022. With convenience sampling, 250 nursing students from three Iranian universities participated in this study. Data gathering included the Moral Intelligence Questionnaire, Self-Compassion Scale (short form), and Cultural Competency Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the correlation between variables, and hierarchical regression. Results The results showed that nursing students had good moral intelligence (72.63 ± 11.38), moderate self-compassion (37.19 ± 5.02), and poor cultural competence (50.06 ± 13.15). No statistically significant relationship was observed between self-compassion and cultural competence (r = 0.11, p = 0.07). Moral intelligence with marital status (r = 0.16, p = 0.01), academic year (r = 0.14, p = 0.03) and self-compassion (r = 0.33, p < 0.001) had a significant relationship in such a way that these variables explained 15% of moral intelligence and self-compassion had the highest impact (p < 0.001). Conclusion Considering the moderate level of self-compassion and the poor level of cultural competence reported in the undergraduate nursing students, and also that self-compassion was known to be a predictive factor for moral intelligence, planners and educators must pay more attention to promoting self-compassion and cultural competency in the curriculum and conduct studies to find ways to improve them.

Development of indicators and moral intelligence scales for junior high school students: mixed-method research

“…It was emphasized that personal behaviors were demanded to change in accordance with these universal principles. This is also consistent with Monir’s [ 27 ] research, which found that there was a statistically significant relationship between self-compassion and kindness (self-compassion) and moral intelligence. There were some aspects of moral intelligence, such as honesty, responsibility, sympathy and forgiveness.…”

Ecological predictors of cultural competence among nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit: A cross‐sectional descriptive study

“…In particular, the “empathic feeling and expression” and “empathic perspective” were significantly more salient factors than the other two domains of ethnocultural empathy for NICU nurses. Ethnocultural empathy is a fundamental element of CC (Wang et al, 2003); previous studies have consistently reported that nurses or nursing students with a higher level of empathy had higher CC levels (Soleimani & Yarahmadi, 2023; Suk et al, 2018). A study by Hogan et al (2018) revealed increased cultural empathy among midwifery students in Australia after participating in a training program on cultural empathy, maintaining these levels a month after the program.…”

“…This study considered the concept of “ethnocultural empathy,” which refers to empathy for groups of different cultures and races, as an individual factor (Wang et al, 2003). A significant positive relationship between empathy and CC among critical care nurses has been reported (Soleimani & Yarahmadi, 2023); moreover, the higher the cultural empathy level of nursing students, the higher their CC (Park & Kim, 2017). Personal experiences, including foreign language classes (Chae et al, 2012), multicultural education (Byun & Park, 2020), and cultural diversity training (Osmancevic et al, 2023), have also been shown to be associated with CC.…”

Cultural competence in critical care nurses and its relationships with empathy, job conflict, and work engagement: a cross-sectional descriptive study

“…A patient-centered approach and exhibiting respect, sensitivity, composure, partnership, honesty, understanding, curiosity, tolerance, and a positive attitude toward them are the keys to developing cultural competence that can improve patient outcomes [ 8 , 9 ]. The results of previous studies in Iran show that cultural competence is moderate in general nurses [ 10 ], weak in undergraduate students [ 11 ] and critical care nurses (CCNs) [ 12 ].…”