Ethical Work Climate, Moral Courage, Moral Distress and Organizational Citizenship Behavioramong Nurses

Abstract

Ethical work climate and moral courage are important elements influencing the actions of nurses and their

organizational citizenship. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ethical work climate,

moral courage, moral distress, and organizational citizenship behavior among nurses at Zagazig university

hospitals, Egypt. A descriptive correlational design was used for this research. A stratified random sample

of 384 nurses was chosen from the above mentioned settings. Four tools were utilized for data collection:

Hospital ethicalclimate scale, professional moral courage scale, moral distress scale and organizational

citizenship behavior scale.

Results: Revealed that,89.1% of nurses had positive perceptions of ethical work climate. Likewise, 85.4%

and 83.1% of nurses had high levels of moral courage and moral distress respectively, and 47.7% of them

had moderate level of organizational citizenship behavior.

Conclusion: Ethical work climate was significantly and positively correlated to moral courage and

organizational citizenship behavior, while it was negatively correlated to moral distress.

Recommendation: Developed continuing education, and discussions promote positive ethical climates

within the organization